Being an evangelical for Alan Parsons, I find a mere 10 songs very limiting for a man who's been creating music for over 30 years now. After all, he's come out with 16 albums, so I can't even represent one song per album. Still, I'll try to give a sampling of both his greatest hits and some personal favorites to give an indication of what his music is like.
1. The Cask of Amontillado - From "Tales of Mystery and Imagination" (i.e., TOMAI; the Alan Parsons e-mail list uses tons of acronyms for both album and song titles). Most people would probably choose either The Raven or Fall of the House of Usher (a long, symphonic arrangement), but I like "Cask" because it's about a chilling murder that's beautifully sung in a duet form (John Miles singing both parts). (This is a common feature of Eric Woolfson's lyrics: he writes music about how much he hates or despises certain people, but it's all done to a catchy melody. ;) )
2. I Robot - From "I Robot" (IR). One of the best instrumentals by the band. It certainly set the standard by which all future instrumentals by the Project were judged.
3. Games People Play - From "Turn of a Friendly Card" (TOAFC). The big radio hit on this album was "Time," but I've always preferred "Games People Play," sung by Lenny Zakatek. The Project used a large number of vocalists for various songs, primarily singers from bands who may or (more often than not) may not have hit the big time. Zakatek is my favorite vocalist from the Project; he primarily sang high-energy songs.
4. Psychobabble - From "Eye in the Sky" (EITS). My favorite song. This particular album was probably the most successful of all the APP albums, and there are a number of songs from this album that are still played regularly today, such as the instrumental "Sirius" (which is a popular song for athlete introductions at various sporting events), "Eye in the Sky" (the title song), and "Old and Wise," which is extremely popular in the Netherlands for some reason (according to Dutch members of the e-mail list). This song and "Prime Time," from the next album, "Ammonia Avenue" (AA), are very popular among the fans at concerts because they feature extended guitar solos (often lasting five minutes or so) in the middle of the songs.
5. Days Are Numbers (The Traveller) - From "Vulture Culture" (VC). Up through this time, the mid-80s, one of the more important members of the band, Andrew Powell, had been writing orchestral arrangements that gave the Project's albums a lush, progressive sound. However, Powell had been hired to write the soundtrack for the movie "Ladyhawke" (with Michelle Pfeiffer and Rutger Hauer), and wasn't available to orchestrate VC. As a result, VC has a more traditional rock sound to it. This particular song, "Days are Numbers," is more in the way of a ballad, and I've always liked it.
6. Freudiana - From "Freudiana." By the end of the 80s, the Alan Parsons Project had completed its contractual obligation of nine albums to Arista. Eric Woolfson, who had been the principal songwriter and one of the main vocalists for the band, had wanted to branch out into more theatrical music; this album, "Freudiana," is the first of those albums. In fact, there are two versions of this album floating around, "Freudiana White," which is performed by the Alan Parsons Project (although whether this really is an APP album has long been in dispute), and "Freudiana Black," which is the original cast recording, sung in German. Freudiana was the last album Eric worked on in collaboration with Alan. Since then, the two men have had a equitable working arrangement: Eric has written a number of rock musicals based on previous APP albums (his music is especially popular in Korea, for some reason), and Alan is allowed to use the songs Eric wrote for his concerts. Despite a strong desire by the fans for the two men to work together once more, they continue to work separately.
7. Turn It Up - From "Try Anything Once" (TAO). This was Alan's first non-Project album under his own name. However, it remained very much a "project" in that Alan relied heavily upon other people to write the music, especially lead guitarist Ian Bairnson. This song is by Ian, and is very popular.
8. Apollo - From "On Air" (OA). Like most other AP/P albums, this album followed a theme, in this case, "flight." Some of the songs were very personal; one song was dedicated to skysurfer Bob Harris, who died while filming a Mountain Dew commercial, while another was dedicated to Ian's cousin Erik Mounsey, a British helicopter pilot who was killed in a friendly fire incident above Iraq in 1994. "Apollo" is a somewhat typical AP/P instrumental, but it's unique in that it's the first of several "techno" instrumentals.
9. Ignorance is Bliss - From "The Time Machine" (TTM). This was one of those albums that should have done better commercially. By coincidence, Alan had written an album about time travel that came out when Mike Myers' second Austin Powers movie, "The Spy Who Shagged Me," was released, which discussed a "time machine" (be sure to make the quote marks with your fingers when you read that) by the noted Cambridge physicist, Dr. Alan Parsons. Later versions of the album include a remix of the title track, the "Doctor Evil Edit" by Alan's son, Jeremy, who's performed on several of his dad's albums since TAO. This song, "Ignorance is Bliss," is perhaps the song closest to being a lullaby, and has been on my mind a good deal recently as my wife is about four months into her first pregnancy.
10. Chomolungma - From "A Valid Path" (AVP). This is Alan's most recent album, released in 2004, and "Chomolungma," which is one of the names for Mount Everest, is the last song on the album. AVP is Alan's move into Electronica, to see if he could find a new, younger audience for his music. The first 80% of the song is a fairly straightforward instrumental, heavy on percussion; however, the last 20% gets a little odd: first, there's a snippet from a radio interview of John Cleese that Alan heard and got permission to use, and then the song ends with a dog barking (presumably Alan's family dog). The bit by Cleese is funny and relates to the background noise; the thing with the dog barking, I have no idea why it's there.
February 9, 2008
Evangelizing for Alan
This week's Friday Random 10 over at Street Prophets asks the question, "Choose the ten songs/works off any album that you think best represents your favorite artist (singer, composer, band...)." This is my (very long) response:
February 8, 2008
Contextualizing Muslims
I came across a blog, GetReligion.org, where some of the commenters had suggested that a "Tmatt trio" be created for "contextualizing Muslims." Being unfamiliar with what a "Tmatt trio" is, I poked around the blog and found that it's a series of questions the writer, Terry Mattingly (tmatt), has used since the mid-80s to "find out where Christian leaders fall on a doctrinal (not political) scale from left to right, from progressive to traditionalist." The questions are:
And I had been trying to think, is there a set of questions that can be created for Muslims. I think the problem in trying to do so is that the range of possible answers given by Muslims to most questions would actually be quite narrow. Take the third question above (which is the only one of the three that's actually relevant to Muslims). The correct answer, of course, is "yes," which I suspect 99% of the world's Muslim population would agree to. (IMO, you'd really have to be outside of a state of Islam to answer "no" to that question.) And so the third question really isn't a good discriminator in being able to separate Muslims into more distinct groups. Which, of course, is something that's frowned upon in the Qur'an anyway. So I'm not sure such a trio of questions is really possible except for nit-picking into the minutiae of the religion because the basics of Islam are, IMO, pretty universal among all Muslims.
(1) Are the biblical accounts of the resurrection of Jesus accurate? Did this event really happen?
(2) Is salvation found through Jesus Christ, alone? Was Jesus being literal when he said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6)?
(3) Is sex outside of the Sacrament of Marriage a sin?
And I had been trying to think, is there a set of questions that can be created for Muslims. I think the problem in trying to do so is that the range of possible answers given by Muslims to most questions would actually be quite narrow. Take the third question above (which is the only one of the three that's actually relevant to Muslims). The correct answer, of course, is "yes," which I suspect 99% of the world's Muslim population would agree to. (IMO, you'd really have to be outside of a state of Islam to answer "no" to that question.) And so the third question really isn't a good discriminator in being able to separate Muslims into more distinct groups. Which, of course, is something that's frowned upon in the Qur'an anyway. So I'm not sure such a trio of questions is really possible except for nit-picking into the minutiae of the religion because the basics of Islam are, IMO, pretty universal among all Muslims.
February 7, 2008
What a freakin' crybaby!
Can't beat your in-state rival? Lose recruits to your in-state rival? Do you suck it up and try harder? No. You call your in-state rival names. Yeah, that'll solve your problems, coach! Pussy! :) From the Arizona Republic:
The smoldering Arizona-Arizona State football rivalry grew hotter on Wednesday when Wildcats coach Mike Stoops said ASU has "turned into a J.C."
Speaking at a football signing day news conference in Tucson, Stoops said some recruits had told him that it was easier to earn acceptance at ASU.
"Each school has to recruit to that school and what type of academic requirements there are," Stoops said. "Obviously, Arizona State has turned into a J.C. and we are a four-year college. According to all the players, they say it is easier to go to school there, easier to get in. I thought we had the same requirements. It is news to me."
It was also news to ASU coach Dennis Erickson, who had little to say about Stoops' remarks.
"He can say what he wants," Erickson said. "We're all the same. There is no difference.
"The bottom line with recruiting, and all that talking back and forth and all the stuff, is who's going to win games and who isn't right now," said Erickson, who defeated Stoops and Arizona 20-17 on Dec. 1 in Tempe. "What we've done with our group academically, as far as helping our guys be successful, that's what it's all about.
...
Tensions between the football programs, located 90 miles apart, grew last month when highly touted tailback Ryan Bass of Corona, Calif., backed out of an oral commitment to Arizona and said he would attend ASU. Bass was among the 27 signees announced by the Sun Devils on Wednesday.
Arizona signed only two players from the state - seven fewer than Arizona State. The disparity could be a byproduct of ASU's three-game win streak in the Territorial Cup series. Stoops is 1-3 against Arizona State.
On Adultery
The following is a response of mine from some comments over at Rob Wagner's blog, 13 Martyrs. Rob had originally written in response to a previous comment by "anonymous":
To which "anonymous" wrote:
My response to "anonymous":
And, anonymous, yes, the death penalty for adultry [sic] is hideous, but as a rule not practiced, especially in Arab countries.
To which "anonymous" wrote:
OK. So Arab countries are not, as a rule, following islam. [sic] Good! But would it really be a better world if we sacrelized [sic] murder on grounds of adultery, as is the case with sharia?
My response to "anonymous":
The problem with a lot of people (and not just Westerners) is that they look at another culture through their own cultural perspective without much thought as to the reasoning why something is in another culture. You think that, from Rob's statement, that Arab countries aren't following Islam (correctly). That isn't the case. The shari'ah system is set up to make these types of punishments difficult to implement. On the one hand, the punishment is very severe because it's trying to deter the crime from being done in the first place. Muslims know that if you're not punished in this life, you may be punished, insha'allah, in the next, and that punishment may be much more severe than the punishment today, insha'allah. Better to avoid any punishment whatsoever by not committing the crime in the first place. On the other hand, to convict for adultery requires four witnesses. Unless you're an idiot like Paris Hilton or Rob Lowe, where your sex tape gets distributed publicly, the odds are very low that people may witness your affair. (Still, Allah (swt) knows, and you'll answer to Him.)
Which comes to your supposedly rhetorical question, which you obviously know my answer: yes. Religion is not just about the betterment of the individual, but of society as well. Groups of people ("nations," as they're called in the Qur'an) can and will be collectively punished by Allah (swt), insha'allah, for their transgressions. Both the Bible and the Qur'an make that abundantly clear. (Sodom and Gomorrah? There are other examples in the Qur'an.) Adultery is not just a problem for the individuals concerned or their families. It affects society as well. The transmission of STDs, the breakups of families, the custodial issues about children? These all hurt society and, yet, you'd rather society to continue on its merry way instead of trying to curb the problem? At least Islam makes a serious attempt.
February 6, 2008
Comments About the "Top 20" SF Novels
This happened to be an interesting topic, and I do appreciate all the comments that the previous post generated. In preparing to write about the top 20 science fiction novels I'd choose, I thought I'd go over the earlier listing and discuss why I agree (and disagree) with those choices. Please feel free to chime in and criticize my criticisms, if you'd like.
1. The Lord of the Rings (1954/55) - Technically not SF, but fantasy. However, the two genres are very much related to each other, and some authors like C.J. Cherryh bounce between the two fields. While I'd prefer not to have LOTR on a list of the best SF novels, the book is so influential that you can't really not have it on the list.
2. Time Enough for Love (1973) - Enjoyable book, especially for "The Notebooks of Lazarus Long," but I wouldn't rate it #2 and, in fact, I'd drop it from the "top 20" altogether. (This is a book I've reread recently as well.)
3. The Martian Chronicles (1950) - Another book I've reread in the past few months. Influential book? Absolutely. Worthy of being in the "top 20?" Not a chance. And the writing is very dated at this time.
4. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (1966) - Sad to say, I haven't had the chance to reread this one in a long time. I remember Heinlein's use of a Russian "accent" to be off-putting at the beginning, but it grew on me as I continued reading the book. I'm not sure I can remember enough about the book to say whether it's worthy of a "top 20" honor, but I'll be conservative and say "no." I expect I'll need "room" on the list for other books.
5. Fahrenheit 451 (1953) - Another book I haven't read in a long time. Another book that, while influential and speaking on an important topic (censorship), I'll also pass on.
6. Ender's Game (1985) - Worthy of a "top 20" listing; worthy of being made into a major motion picture. Until about 10 years ago or so, making this novel into a movie would have been extremely difficult (a lot of wirework at the very least); in today's realistic CGI world, the "battle scenes" that are at the heart of the novel should be a breeze for today's filmmakers to do. A movie based on this book should pull in "Harry Potter" numbers at the theaters.
7. Second Foundation (1953) / 8. Foundation (1951) / 12. Foundation and Empire - One of the things that struck me about this list of "top 20" SF novels is that the books seemed to be picked either because the plot was based on a strong conceptual idea or because the book was a sentimental favorite. The Foundation series is another one of the former. I had originally read the Foundation trilogy when I was around 20 years old; about a year ago, I reread "Foundation." Such terrible writing. Isaac Asimov became a great writer, but the first book is not representative of his eventual skill. However, once again, yes, an incredibly influential series. (George Lucas' planet of "Coruscant" was obviously based on Isaac Asimov's "Trantor.") Worthy of a "top 20" honor? No, not today.
9. Dune (1965) - This is a book that I often reread (actually, I'll go through all of Frank's Dune novels in one go, from start to finish). The writing remains fresh, even though the book was written in the early 60s. Most definitely top 20. To be honest, I'd probably rate it #2, behind LOTR.
10. Starship Troopers (1959) - Another book I've reread in the past year. As a Heinlein "juvenile," it's better than most. It's worthy of a "top 20," but I'd place it in the last quarter.
11. Rendezvous With Rama (1973) - Haven't read it in a long time, but it's worthy of a "top 20." I read this for the first time when I was in my early teens and, well... it made a great impression on me (as did several other of Arthur Clarke's novels).
13. Pet Sematary (1983) / 14. Farnham's Freehold (1965) - I haven't read either of these books, so in all fairness I can't really say whether they should belong in such a list; however, I'm going to exclude them from my own listing.
15. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - Read the short story (The Sentinel), read the novel (several times), watched the movie (don't know how many times). But is it really worthy of a "top 20" in today's era? I don't think so.
16. Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) - I consider this novel to be the last and best of Heinlein's juveniles (although it's obviously not one of the "official" Scribner juveniles). Although certain aspects of the writing have become somewhat dated (and Heinlein's various discussions about Islam are both accurate and completely off the deep end in equal measure), it remains, IMO, one of Heinlein's best works. I would rate it higher than either of the other Heinlein books discussed above.
17. Speaker for the Dead (1986) - It's been a while since I've read this novel; I think it resonates with people the most for the semi-spiritual aspect, the "speaking" for the dead. Although it's a direct sequel to Ender's Game, it's written in a completely different frame of mind. (Imagine George Lucas following up Star Wars with, say, Solaris, using the same characters.) I'm not sure whether it's still "top 20" material, but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and say "yes."
18. Have Space Suit - Will Travel (1958) - No. Another Heinlein juvenile. OK plot. Purely in this list for sentimental reasons. Nice to read, but not anywhere close to "top 20" material.
19. Childhood’s End (1953) - Yes. It's been ages since I've read this, but some parts of this novel have remained vivid memories.
20. Glory Road (1963) - No. Haven't read it since '83 or so. Who were these guys who voted for this novel trying to kid? It's OK, but it's nowhere near "top 20" material.
1. The Lord of the Rings (1954/55) - Technically not SF, but fantasy. However, the two genres are very much related to each other, and some authors like C.J. Cherryh bounce between the two fields. While I'd prefer not to have LOTR on a list of the best SF novels, the book is so influential that you can't really not have it on the list.
2. Time Enough for Love (1973) - Enjoyable book, especially for "The Notebooks of Lazarus Long," but I wouldn't rate it #2 and, in fact, I'd drop it from the "top 20" altogether. (This is a book I've reread recently as well.)
3. The Martian Chronicles (1950) - Another book I've reread in the past few months. Influential book? Absolutely. Worthy of being in the "top 20?" Not a chance. And the writing is very dated at this time.
4. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (1966) - Sad to say, I haven't had the chance to reread this one in a long time. I remember Heinlein's use of a Russian "accent" to be off-putting at the beginning, but it grew on me as I continued reading the book. I'm not sure I can remember enough about the book to say whether it's worthy of a "top 20" honor, but I'll be conservative and say "no." I expect I'll need "room" on the list for other books.
5. Fahrenheit 451 (1953) - Another book I haven't read in a long time. Another book that, while influential and speaking on an important topic (censorship), I'll also pass on.
6. Ender's Game (1985) - Worthy of a "top 20" listing; worthy of being made into a major motion picture. Until about 10 years ago or so, making this novel into a movie would have been extremely difficult (a lot of wirework at the very least); in today's realistic CGI world, the "battle scenes" that are at the heart of the novel should be a breeze for today's filmmakers to do. A movie based on this book should pull in "Harry Potter" numbers at the theaters.
7. Second Foundation (1953) / 8. Foundation (1951) / 12. Foundation and Empire - One of the things that struck me about this list of "top 20" SF novels is that the books seemed to be picked either because the plot was based on a strong conceptual idea or because the book was a sentimental favorite. The Foundation series is another one of the former. I had originally read the Foundation trilogy when I was around 20 years old; about a year ago, I reread "Foundation." Such terrible writing. Isaac Asimov became a great writer, but the first book is not representative of his eventual skill. However, once again, yes, an incredibly influential series. (George Lucas' planet of "Coruscant" was obviously based on Isaac Asimov's "Trantor.") Worthy of a "top 20" honor? No, not today.
9. Dune (1965) - This is a book that I often reread (actually, I'll go through all of Frank's Dune novels in one go, from start to finish). The writing remains fresh, even though the book was written in the early 60s. Most definitely top 20. To be honest, I'd probably rate it #2, behind LOTR.
10. Starship Troopers (1959) - Another book I've reread in the past year. As a Heinlein "juvenile," it's better than most. It's worthy of a "top 20," but I'd place it in the last quarter.
11. Rendezvous With Rama (1973) - Haven't read it in a long time, but it's worthy of a "top 20." I read this for the first time when I was in my early teens and, well... it made a great impression on me (as did several other of Arthur Clarke's novels).
13. Pet Sematary (1983) / 14. Farnham's Freehold (1965) - I haven't read either of these books, so in all fairness I can't really say whether they should belong in such a list; however, I'm going to exclude them from my own listing.
15. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - Read the short story (The Sentinel), read the novel (several times), watched the movie (don't know how many times). But is it really worthy of a "top 20" in today's era? I don't think so.
16. Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) - I consider this novel to be the last and best of Heinlein's juveniles (although it's obviously not one of the "official" Scribner juveniles). Although certain aspects of the writing have become somewhat dated (and Heinlein's various discussions about Islam are both accurate and completely off the deep end in equal measure), it remains, IMO, one of Heinlein's best works. I would rate it higher than either of the other Heinlein books discussed above.
17. Speaker for the Dead (1986) - It's been a while since I've read this novel; I think it resonates with people the most for the semi-spiritual aspect, the "speaking" for the dead. Although it's a direct sequel to Ender's Game, it's written in a completely different frame of mind. (Imagine George Lucas following up Star Wars with, say, Solaris, using the same characters.) I'm not sure whether it's still "top 20" material, but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and say "yes."
18. Have Space Suit - Will Travel (1958) - No. Another Heinlein juvenile. OK plot. Purely in this list for sentimental reasons. Nice to read, but not anywhere close to "top 20" material.
19. Childhood’s End (1953) - Yes. It's been ages since I've read this, but some parts of this novel have remained vivid memories.
20. Glory Road (1963) - No. Haven't read it since '83 or so. Who were these guys who voted for this novel trying to kid? It's OK, but it's nowhere near "top 20" material.
February 3, 2008
Top 100 ... er, 23 ... er, 20 Science Fiction Novels
I just came across this website, the Internet Speculative Fiction Database. One of their webpages lists the "Top 100 Novels." Except that, for some reason, they only list the top 23. And even there, they double-count "The Lord of the Rings" as a separate novel along with each of the individual novels. So it's either the top 22 novels or the top 20, take your pick. I've deleted the three individual novels from the list, making it a top 20. Dates in parentheses are publication years.
1. The Lord of the Rings (1954/55) - J. R. R. Tolkien
2. Time Enough for Love (1973) - Robert A. Heinlein
3. The Martian Chronicles (1950) - Ray Bradbury
4. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (1966) - Robert A. Heinlein
5. Fahrenheit 451 (1953) - Ray Bradbury
6. Ender's Game (1985) - Orson Scott Card
7. Second Foundation (1953) - Isaac Asimov
8. Foundation (1951) - Isaac Asimov
9. Dune (1965) - Frank Herbert
10. Starship Troopers (1959) - Robert A. Heinlein
11. Rendezvous With Rama (1973) - Arthur C. Clarke
12. Foundation and Empire (1952) - Isaac Asimov
13. Pet Sematary (1983) - Stephen King
14. Farnham's Freehold (1965) - Robert A. Heinlein
15. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - Arthur C. Clarke
16. Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) - Robert A. Heinlein
17. Speaker for the Dead (1986) - Orson Scott Card
18. Have Space Suit - Will Travel (1958) - Robert A. Heinlein
19. Childhood’s End (1953) - Arthur C. Clarke
20. Glory Road (1963) - Robert A. Heinlein
Two comments: Of these twenty, the only two I haven't read are Pet Sematary (I've never read any of Stephen King's books) and Farnham's Freehold (which is surprising, as I've read just about every other Heinlein juvenile). The other surprise is just how few books there are from certain eras. The newest book on the list is Orson Scott Card's "Speaker for the Dead," with his "Ender's Game" the next youngest, both from the mid 80s. Nothing is listed from the better works of the more recent writers: Bear, Brin, Cherryh, Gibson, Robinson, Wolfe, etc. Likewise, a lot of good work from the "New Wave/Dangerous Visions" era of the late 60s/early 70s is missing as well, authors such as Delany, LeGuin, Niven, Silverberg, etc. While I enjoy Heinlein's novels just as much as any other SF reader, seven of the top 20 seems a bit much when other just-as-good-if-not-better novels are not included on the list.
1. The Lord of the Rings (1954/55) - J. R. R. Tolkien
2. Time Enough for Love (1973) - Robert A. Heinlein
3. The Martian Chronicles (1950) - Ray Bradbury
4. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (1966) - Robert A. Heinlein
5. Fahrenheit 451 (1953) - Ray Bradbury
6. Ender's Game (1985) - Orson Scott Card
7. Second Foundation (1953) - Isaac Asimov
8. Foundation (1951) - Isaac Asimov
9. Dune (1965) - Frank Herbert
10. Starship Troopers (1959) - Robert A. Heinlein
11. Rendezvous With Rama (1973) - Arthur C. Clarke
12. Foundation and Empire (1952) - Isaac Asimov
13. Pet Sematary (1983) - Stephen King
14. Farnham's Freehold (1965) - Robert A. Heinlein
15. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - Arthur C. Clarke
16. Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) - Robert A. Heinlein
17. Speaker for the Dead (1986) - Orson Scott Card
18. Have Space Suit - Will Travel (1958) - Robert A. Heinlein
19. Childhood’s End (1953) - Arthur C. Clarke
20. Glory Road (1963) - Robert A. Heinlein
Two comments: Of these twenty, the only two I haven't read are Pet Sematary (I've never read any of Stephen King's books) and Farnham's Freehold (which is surprising, as I've read just about every other Heinlein juvenile). The other surprise is just how few books there are from certain eras. The newest book on the list is Orson Scott Card's "Speaker for the Dead," with his "Ender's Game" the next youngest, both from the mid 80s. Nothing is listed from the better works of the more recent writers: Bear, Brin, Cherryh, Gibson, Robinson, Wolfe, etc. Likewise, a lot of good work from the "New Wave/Dangerous Visions" era of the late 60s/early 70s is missing as well, authors such as Delany, LeGuin, Niven, Silverberg, etc. While I enjoy Heinlein's novels just as much as any other SF reader, seven of the top 20 seems a bit much when other just-as-good-if-not-better novels are not included on the list.
January 30, 2008
Quiz on Islam
A couple days ago, I created a quiz on Facebook regarding introductory information on Islam. You can either take the quiz here and see how well you did now, or try your luck on my blog. The degree of difficulty for this quiz is, IMO, rather easy, even for non-Muslims (Muslims should get 100%). I'll put the answers up in the comment section in a day or two, insha'allah.
Question #1: Which of the following is not one of the five pillars of Islam:
a) Fasting
b) Hajj
c) Jihad
d) Prayer
Question #2: Muslims fast during the month of:
a) Shawwal
b) Muharram
c) Rajab
d) Ramadan
Question #3: Muhammad (pbuh) was originally from which town:
a) Makkah (Mecca)
b) Medina
c) Ta'if
d) Yathrib
Question #4: The Islamic calendar begins with which event:
a) The year of Muhammad's (pbuh) birth
b) The year Muhammad (pbuh) received his first revelation
c) The Hijrah
d) The year of Muhammad's (pbuh) death
Question #5: The Qur'an was revealed to Muhammad (pbuh) over a period of:
a) One day
b) Thirteen years
c) Twenty-three years
d) Thirty years
Question #6: The name of the angel who revealed the Qur'an to Muhammad (pbuh) was:
a) Jibril (Gabriel)
b) Mikail (Michael)
c) Israfil (Raphael)
d) Izra'il (Azrael)
Question #7: Ritual prayer in Islam is known as:
a) Shahadah
b) Salat
c) Zakat
d) Sawm
Question #8: Muslims must pray how many times a day?
a) Once
b) Three times
c) Five times
d) Seven times
Question #9: Which of the following groups is not considered Muslim?
a) Sunni
b) Sufi
c) Baha'i
d) Shia
Question #10: The Arabic term for Islamic law is:
a) Fiqh
b) Jihad
c) Shari'ah
d) Khalifah
Question #1: Which of the following is not one of the five pillars of Islam:
a) Fasting
b) Hajj
c) Jihad
d) Prayer
Question #2: Muslims fast during the month of:
a) Shawwal
b) Muharram
c) Rajab
d) Ramadan
Question #3: Muhammad (pbuh) was originally from which town:
a) Makkah (Mecca)
b) Medina
c) Ta'if
d) Yathrib
Question #4: The Islamic calendar begins with which event:
a) The year of Muhammad's (pbuh) birth
b) The year Muhammad (pbuh) received his first revelation
c) The Hijrah
d) The year of Muhammad's (pbuh) death
Question #5: The Qur'an was revealed to Muhammad (pbuh) over a period of:
a) One day
b) Thirteen years
c) Twenty-three years
d) Thirty years
Question #6: The name of the angel who revealed the Qur'an to Muhammad (pbuh) was:
a) Jibril (Gabriel)
b) Mikail (Michael)
c) Israfil (Raphael)
d) Izra'il (Azrael)
Question #7: Ritual prayer in Islam is known as:
a) Shahadah
b) Salat
c) Zakat
d) Sawm
Question #8: Muslims must pray how many times a day?
a) Once
b) Three times
c) Five times
d) Seven times
Question #9: Which of the following groups is not considered Muslim?
a) Sunni
b) Sufi
c) Baha'i
d) Shia
Question #10: The Arabic term for Islamic law is:
a) Fiqh
b) Jihad
c) Shari'ah
d) Khalifah
January 26, 2008
Is She Real?
This picture reminds me of Memorex's long-standing question: "Is it live or is it Memorex?" Is this girl real or is she a computer-generated image? She is, in fact, CGI. This picture is one of many created by various illustrators who use 3D and 2D animation software. To be honest, most of these pictures don't really impress, most of the "girls" featured being in various states of undress as you might find in anime/manga and/or male fantasies. However, I did like this particular image, created by Beans Magic, because the face does look extremely lifelike. In fact, one wonders if the image is really CGI or a doctored photograph. If the former, then I really am impressed. (HT: IZ Reloaded)
January 24, 2008
"I Told Him So"
It's going to be a little odd this summer when The Dark Knight comes out in July, considering that Heath Ledger played "The Joker" for this film. No doubt his recent death will stir up a lot of publicity when the film comes out. According to Ledger's IMDB page (the link above), Ledger was the lead star for one other movie currently filming, Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. One suspects that they may need to start from scratch.In the meantime, there's an odd story about Jack Nicholson having warned Ledger about the rigor of taking on the role of The Joker:
Jack Nicholson has hinted he warned tragic Heath Ledger against taking on the role of The Joker in the new Batman film. Ledger, 28 - who was declared dead at 3:30pm at his Manhattan apartment on Tuesday - publicly declared himself exhausted and sleep deprived in November following the grueling shoot for The Dark Knight. He also revealed in an interview with the New York Times he'd resorted to taking sleeping pills - an overdose of which is believed to be the cause of his death - in a desperate bid to catch up on rest. And Nicholson, who famously portrayed the menacing Joker in Tim Burton's 1989 movie Batman, implied to the waiting crowd outside plush London restaurant The Wolesley on Tuesday night he spoke to Ledger about his role in The Dark Knight - and warned him about the pitfalls of taking on such a demanding challenge. When asked by the London crowds for his reaction to Ledger's untimely demise, a defeated Nicholson simply replied, "I told him so." Batman Begins prequel The Dark Knight is due to be released in July.
Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un
January 23, 2008
Teh Islamics are Bad
Yeah, I know, an old, tired subject (FGM). However, Bitch, Ph.D. has an interesting take on the bad reporting and treatment of Islam and Muslims by the New York Times (a lot of the comments on that site are good as well). Some excerpts:
I was instantly annoyed by this article in the NYT magazine over the weekend (actually, I was annoyed by it this morning, which is when I read it). The article, about Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), had the following blurb on the front page: "Inside a female-circumcision ceremony for young Muslim girls."
Before even clicking on the link, I knew something was off. Why, after all, say that it's for young Muslim girls? Huh, that makes it sound like FGM is associated with Islam. Which, being educated in this shit, I know that it isn't.
Clicking through, I saw that the article focused on girls getting FGM in Indonesia. Which, fine, is a majority Muslim country. But maybe they mention in the article that FGM isn't part of Islam, and that there are plenty of non-Muslim populations where it is very prevalent, and Muslim populations where they don't do it at all?
Nope, that was nowhere in there. In fact, throughout the article it was made to appear as though it was the Islamic religious establishment which was responsible for the prevalence of the horrifying practice. It may be, in Indonesia. But it also helps to note that there are many rather conservative Muslim countries, like, say, Saudi Arabia, where FGM is basically unheard of. And non-Muslim populations where FGM is the norm, like many sub-Saharan African countries. Or places like my home country, Egypt, where everyone gets FGM, Muslim, Christian, or otherwise (although the practice is losing favor in urban areas).
January 22, 2008
Mercury's Sholem Aleichem Crater, by Messenger
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of WashingtonThe other day I wrote about the sense of humor the astronomers at APOD have. Now it's time to show some of the recent photos taken by the MESSENGER spacecraft that flew by the planet Mercury last week. This particular photo was taken last Monday, January 14th. The caption for the photo reads in part:
This image ... was acquired on January 14, 2008, 18:10 UTC, when the spacecraft was about 18,000 kilometers (11,000 miles) from the surface of Mercury, about 55 minutes before MESSENGER’s closest approach to the planet.
The image shows a variety of surface textures, including smooth plains at the center of the image, many impact craters (some with central peaks), and rough material that appears to have been ejected from the large crater to the lower right. This large 200-kilometer-wide (about 120 miles) crater was seen in less detail by Mariner 10 more than three decades ago and was named Sholem Aleichem for the Yiddish writer. In this MESSENGER image, it can be seen that the plains deposits filling the crater’s interior have been deformed by linear ridges. The shadowed area on the right of the image is the day-night boundary, known as the terminator.
One interesting fact that APOD pointed out is that many of the craters on Mercury are shallower than comparable craters on the Moon, the reason being the higher gravitational pull on Mercury, which "helps flatten tall structures like high crater walls."
As for Sholem Aleichem: He was a Russian Jewish writer (1859-1916) whose stories about Tevye the Milkman became the basis for the musical and film "Fiddler on the Roof."
Cross-posted on my new blog, Ministry of Space Exploration.
January 20, 2008
"Faux News Porn" Strikes Again
I had a good laugh when I saw this screen shot from Crooks & Liars. See the sign to the left of the reporter. "Hot Babes." You think the reporter and his camera man shot this footage just anywhere and was oblivious to the girlie billboard behind them? Then you're not familiar with Faux News Porn.
January 17, 2008
Who Says Astronomers are Nerds?
Or that they lack a sense of humor? :) Astronomy Picture of the Day is reporting the fly-by of the Messenger spacecraft, which is making its first pass of the planet Mercury. Noting that it had been 35 years since Mariner 10 had passed by Mercury (the only other spacecraft to do so), the astronomers at APOD linked their site to this picture. Groovy, baby! :)
January 16, 2008
Mike Huckabee's Christian Shari'ah
So, how is what Mike Huckabee said about trying to change the U.S. Constitution to reflect Christian beliefs any different from Muslims wanting to adopt Shari'ah as the basis for a law of the land.
Oh, that's right... It's OK when Christians want their own Shari'ah, but not when Muslims do.
I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution. But I believe it’s a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living God. And that’s what we need to do is to amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards rather than trying to change God’s standards so it lines up with some contemporary view of how we treat each other and how we treat the family.
Oh, that's right... It's OK when Christians want their own Shari'ah, but not when Muslims do.
Touch the Invisible Sky
Yesterday, NASA released its third and latest book about astronomy that's written in Braille for the visually-impaired. The book uses Braille, large type print, and tactile diagrams of celestial images observed by the Hubble (visible light), Chandra (X-Ray), and Spitzer (Infrared) space telescopes to provide the visually-impaired a better understanding of what celestial objects are like that we, the sighted, take for granted. Some additional information about the book:
Below is a sample page from Touch the Universe of the Ring Nebula, giving an idea of the textural aspects given to the visual image. The other book in the series is Touch the Sun.
Touch the Invisible Sky was authored by astronomy educator and accessibility specialist Noreen Grice of You Can Do Astronomy LLC and Museum of Science, Boston, astronomer Simon Steel of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, MA, and astronomer Doris Daou of NASA. NASA funded the astronomy Braille book, which was publicly released Tuesday, January 15, 2008.
The tactile diagrams feature raised outlines and textures superimposed on the images themselves to indicate how the objects appear differently according to wavelength viewed in – for example, radio, infrared, visible, ultra-violet, or x-ray. The text clearly and concisely explains what each image shows, and even describes how the different types of telescopes capture the images.
The Braille and the tactile diagrams are done in clear acrylic overlay, so the large print type and high-resolution color images can be viewed as well as felt. Touch the Invisible Sky is therefore a useful teaching tool for mainstream classrooms and parents with blind children, making the same information accessible simultaneously by sighted, non-sighted, and reduced-vision readers.
Below is a sample page from Touch the Universe of the Ring Nebula, giving an idea of the textural aspects given to the visual image. The other book in the series is Touch the Sun.
January 15, 2008
Petroleum and Natural Gas Proven Reserves, 2008, Top 10
Update: Please click on the link for the 2009 Petroleum and Natural Gas Proved Reserves.
The Energy Information Administration, a department of the U.S. Department of Energy, has recently released the 2008 proved reserves for petroleum and natural gas. Proved reserves are the amount of oil and gas in the ground that is "reasonably certain" to be extracted using current technology at current prices. The following are lists of the top ten countries for petroleum and natural gas proved reserves, with their quantities and percentage of the world total for 2008:
Petroleum - Billion Barrels
1. Saudi Arabia - 266.75 (20.03%)
2. Canada - 178.59 (13.41%)
3. Iran - 138.40 (10.39%)
4. Iraq - 115.00 (8.64%)
5. Kuwait - 104.00 (7.81%)
6. United Arab Emirates - 97.80 (7.34%)
7. Venezuela - 87.04 (6.54%)
8. Russian Federation - 60.00 (4.51%)
9. Libya - 41.46 (3.11%)
10. Nigeria - 36.22 (2.72%)
Notes: The world total of proved reserves is 1,331.70 billion barrels of petroleum. The total of the top ten countries makes up 84.50% of the world's proved reserves. Canada's proved reserves are estimated to be 5.4 billion barrels of conventional crude oil and 173.2 billion barrels of oil sands reserves. (Oil sands are much more costly to refine than conventional crude oil.)
Natural Gas - Trillion Cubic Feet
1. Russian Federation - 1,680.000 (27.16%)
2. Iran - 948.200 (15.33%)
3. Qatar - 905.300 (14.64%)
4. Saudi Arabia - 253.107 (4.09%)
5. United Arab Emirates - 214.400 (3.47%)
6. United States - 211.085 (3.41%)
7. Nigeria - 183.990 (2.97%)
8. Venezuela - 166.260 (2.69%)
9. Algeria - 159.000 (2.57%)
10. Iraq - 111.940 (1.81%)
Notes: The world total of proved reserves is 6,185.694 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The total of the top ten countries makes up 78.14% of the world's proved reserves. Venezuela moved past Algeria into the 8th spot for the 2008 listing, having been listed 9th last year.
The Energy Information Administration, a department of the U.S. Department of Energy, has recently released the 2008 proved reserves for petroleum and natural gas. Proved reserves are the amount of oil and gas in the ground that is "reasonably certain" to be extracted using current technology at current prices. The following are lists of the top ten countries for petroleum and natural gas proved reserves, with their quantities and percentage of the world total for 2008:
Petroleum - Billion Barrels
1. Saudi Arabia - 266.75 (20.03%)
2. Canada - 178.59 (13.41%)
3. Iran - 138.40 (10.39%)
4. Iraq - 115.00 (8.64%)
5. Kuwait - 104.00 (7.81%)
6. United Arab Emirates - 97.80 (7.34%)
7. Venezuela - 87.04 (6.54%)
8. Russian Federation - 60.00 (4.51%)
9. Libya - 41.46 (3.11%)
10. Nigeria - 36.22 (2.72%)
Notes: The world total of proved reserves is 1,331.70 billion barrels of petroleum. The total of the top ten countries makes up 84.50% of the world's proved reserves. Canada's proved reserves are estimated to be 5.4 billion barrels of conventional crude oil and 173.2 billion barrels of oil sands reserves. (Oil sands are much more costly to refine than conventional crude oil.)
Natural Gas - Trillion Cubic Feet
1. Russian Federation - 1,680.000 (27.16%)
2. Iran - 948.200 (15.33%)
3. Qatar - 905.300 (14.64%)
4. Saudi Arabia - 253.107 (4.09%)
5. United Arab Emirates - 214.400 (3.47%)
6. United States - 211.085 (3.41%)
7. Nigeria - 183.990 (2.97%)
8. Venezuela - 166.260 (2.69%)
9. Algeria - 159.000 (2.57%)
10. Iraq - 111.940 (1.81%)
Notes: The world total of proved reserves is 6,185.694 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The total of the top ten countries makes up 78.14% of the world's proved reserves. Venezuela moved past Algeria into the 8th spot for the 2008 listing, having been listed 9th last year.
January 14, 2008
Thoughts to Ponder
This is most of an e-mail I got today:
Life is sexually transmitted.
Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.
Men have two emotions: hungry and horny. If you see him without an erection, make him a sandwich.
Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day. Teach a person to use the Internet and they won't bother you for weeks.
Some people are like a Slinky... Not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you shove them down the stairs.
Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.
All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.
Why does a slight tax increase cost you $200 and a substantial tax cut saves you $30?
In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.
January 12, 2008
Operation Change for the Better
"From the United States government and Halliburton, working together to round up every cent you have."
"Video Games Live" and Human Tetris
A woman on my Alan Parsons e-mail list asked if anyone had heard of "Video Games Live." According to her, this is supposed to be a "groundbreaking live event celebrating the music of video games," and that it has a full orchestra and choir, synchronized video, lighting, special effects, "crowd interactivity" and "live action."
Apparently, someone has already recorded (professionally) part of "Video Games Live," which happens to be on Youtube:
Another person on the list also mentioned several other videos on Youtube made by Guillaume Reymond, who did stop-motion movies of "live" video games. Below is "The Original Human TETRIS Performance," which is quite cute:
Apparently, someone has already recorded (professionally) part of "Video Games Live," which happens to be on Youtube:
Another person on the list also mentioned several other videos on Youtube made by Guillaume Reymond, who did stop-motion movies of "live" video games. Below is "The Original Human TETRIS Performance," which is quite cute:
January 11, 2008
A Girl's Guide to Geek Guys
IZ Reloaded linked to this webpage: A Girl's Guide to Geek Guys. It's an amusing, albeit fairly accurate description about "geek guys." Being into Star Trek (as I have been since my teenage years), I somewhat fit the guide's description, as Milady would no doubt attest. However, I am not the complete geek as described. (Thank God!) Still, I can relate. :) And girls/women, yes, do date and marry geek guys! They'll thank you for it. Some excerpts:
Why Geek Dudes Rule
They are generally available.
Other women will tend not to steal them.
They can fix things.
Your parents will love them.
They're smart.
...
The Trek factor
If you're not up on your Star Trek, you can forget about getting or keeping a geek dude. And I'm not just talking vintage-era Captain Kirk and Spock either. You've got to be up on your The Next Generation, your Deep Space Nine, your Babylon 5. Armed with your own knowledge of Federation policies, you can better gauge when and how to act. The sexual politics of Star Trek are pretty blunt: the men run the technology and the ship, and the women are caretakers (a doctor and a counselor). Note the sexual tensions on the bridge of the Enterprise: the women, in skin tight uniforms, and with luxuriant, flowing hair. The men, often balding, and sporting some sort of permanently attached computer auxiliary. This world metaphorizes the fantasies of the geek dude, who sees himself in the geeky-but-heroic male officers and who secretly desires a sexy, smart, Deanna or Bev to come along and deferentially accept him for who he is. If you are willing to accept that this is his starting point for reality, you are ready for a geek relationship.
...
Geeks are sensitive and caring lovers and husbands. If you can hang with the techno-lifestyle, they make the best mates. They are the most attractive people, not flashy or hunky, but the kind who get cuter and more alluring over time. ... Definitely give geeks a chance.
...
One Last Thing
Because they have been so abused and ignored by society, many geeks have gone underground. You may actually know some and just haven't noticed them. They often feel resentful, and misunderstood, and it is important to realize this as you grow closer to them. Don't ever try to force the issue, or make crazy demands that he choose between his computer and you. Remember, his computer has been there for him his whole life; you are a new interloper he hasn't quite grasped yet.
Geek dudes thrive on mystery and love challenges and intellectual puzzles. Don't you consider yourself one? Wouldn't you like a little intellectual stimulation or your own? We thought so.
January 7, 2008
Rob Wagner on "The Myth of Muslim Honor Killings"
Rob Wagner at 13 Martyrs has come out with another solid post, this time about The Myth of Muslim Honor Killings. If you're not reading Rob's blog on a daily basis (or haven't put him on your RSS reader, as I have), you're missing out on some good writing. Some excerpts from his post:
It's impossible to simplify the complex nature of honor killings by labeling it a religious or cultural disease. No one can make a case that honor killing is a religious issue because there is no justification for it in the Qur'an or Sharia and it occurs in all religions.
If honor killings were strictly a Muslim issue, how can it be explained that such murders are virtually unheard of in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country, and in Saudi Arabia, the land of the two holy mosques and the most conservative Muslim country? In fact, the evidence is overwhelming that not only are Muslims responsible for only a portion of honor killings but the killings are committed on a global scale that includes Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and people of no faith.
...
It's also impossible to argue that it's a geographical or cultural phenomenon because these murders transcend all cultures. And it's not even a gender issue since many women are complicit in the planning and execution of the murders and that many victims are men. Amnesty International says that that "females in the family - mothers, mothers-in-law, sisters, and cousins - frequently support the attacks. It's a community mentality."
...
Given that honor killings are a global phenomenon and not isolated to Muslims, how do critics justify their anger toward only one group? They can't, but it won't stop them from letting the facts get in the way of their agenda.
We live in a society that labels and demonizes certain groups to justify their hatred. Americans, in particular, have a nasty habit throughout history of targeting specific groups – from the American Indian to Japanese-Americans to communists and now Muslims – to justify their fear and anger. There is no logic to it. It makes no sense. But it makes people feel as if they are helping their country by attacking perceived enemies.
Incredible, Uniquely, Sparkling, Bloody Asia
Over the past few weeks, Milady and I have been discussing some of the regional tourism campaigns. The problem, IMO, is that several of these campaigns have rather simple and, thus, boring slogans. The three primary offenders are Incredible India, Korea Sparkling (which is normally said as if there’s a comma between "Korea" and "Sparkling"), and the local slogan, Uniquely Singapore. It’s not that the advertising campaigns are done badly; in fact, all three campaigns are quite professional with decent television commercials. It’s just that the slogans are not terribly interesting.
Two slogans that I find a little better are Malaysia, Truly Asia and Australia’s So Where the Bloody Hell Are You?, which, apparently, had generated some controversy in the UK and Canada; in the UK because of the word "bloody," and in Canada due to the "unbranded alcohol consumption" at the beginning of one of the commercials (and also for the use of the word "hell"). Singapore avoided the problem by having the slogan advertised here as "So where are you?"
There are a couple of countries that don’t advertise regionally, which is a little surprising, namely Indonesia, the Philippines, and Hong Kong. The most recent entrant in the tourism sweepstakes is Vietnam, the Hidden Charm, which, unfortunately, seems to have followed the lead of India, Korea and Singapore with a simplistic slogan.
January 6, 2008
Burning Salt Water
John Kanzius, a retiree, has found a way to burn salt water using radio waves. This is one of those wonderful, serendipitous accidents where Kanzius was trying to find a way to kill cancer cells using radio waves but, instead, discovered an alternative source of energy. The water burns because the radio waves shake the water molecules hard enough to break the chemical bonds that hold the hydrogen atoms to the oxygen atom. The hydrogen atoms then burn with the oxygen atom, causing an intense flame (as you can see in the below video).
Presently, there are two significant hurdles to using Kanzius' method for energy generation. First, more energy is consumed by the radio wave generator than is released by the burning hydrogen. Second, the vibration of the salt molecules (sodium chloride) releases chlorine gas which, of course, is toxic. Should both of these problems be overcome, the world may have a new source of energy that should last us for thousands of years.
(HT: Mohamad Latiff)
Presently, there are two significant hurdles to using Kanzius' method for energy generation. First, more energy is consumed by the radio wave generator than is released by the burning hydrogen. Second, the vibration of the salt molecules (sodium chloride) releases chlorine gas which, of course, is toxic. Should both of these problems be overcome, the world may have a new source of energy that should last us for thousands of years.
(HT: Mohamad Latiff)
January 5, 2008
Ya Get What Ya Pay For
John Walkenbach at The J-Walk Blog has done a brief statistical analysis of the amount of money spent on advertising among the major political candidates competing in the Iowa primary vs. the number of votes each candidate received.
One of the things John didn't point out is that, generally speaking, the politicians got what they paid for. John McCain and Fred Thompson hardly spent any money and, as a result, got hardly any votes. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama spent the most money and got the most votes. Of course, there are two primary exceptions, namely Romney and Edwards, but otherwise the model here works fairly well: ya get what ya pay for.
[Note: For those of you who are statistically-challenged, the correlation coefficient measures how well the data fits to the "best-fit line," as John calls it. The number ranges from +1 (perfect fit) to -1 (perfect "anti-fit"). If the correlation coefficient had been +1, each dot would have lined up exactly on the best-fit line. A correlation coefficient of 0.779, then, shows a strong correlation. This is a good thing. ;) ]
HT: Advertising is Good for You
The diagonal line is the linear best-fit line. The two variables have a correlation coefficient of 0.779.
Romney ended up paying the most per vote: $238. Obama and Clinton both spent about $103 per vote. The biggest bargains were for Edwards ($48/vote) and Huckabee ($35/vote).
One of the things John didn't point out is that, generally speaking, the politicians got what they paid for. John McCain and Fred Thompson hardly spent any money and, as a result, got hardly any votes. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama spent the most money and got the most votes. Of course, there are two primary exceptions, namely Romney and Edwards, but otherwise the model here works fairly well: ya get what ya pay for.
[Note: For those of you who are statistically-challenged, the correlation coefficient measures how well the data fits to the "best-fit line," as John calls it. The number ranges from +1 (perfect fit) to -1 (perfect "anti-fit"). If the correlation coefficient had been +1, each dot would have lined up exactly on the best-fit line. A correlation coefficient of 0.779, then, shows a strong correlation. This is a good thing. ;) ]
HT: Advertising is Good for You
January 3, 2008
The Falcon Will Rise Again
One of the people on the Alan Parsons e-mail list has asked which one of our posts to the list we are most proud of. There are a couple posts I've written that I've liked, but I've always enjoyed this one, where I "quibbled" over whether the song "The Eagle Will Rise Again" (on the Pyramid album) should have used the imagery of a falcon instead. This was originally written on Sunday, March 21, 1999:
This letter may seem to be quibbling over a minor point on "The Eagle Will Rise Again," but I'll quibble anyway. :)
First, some introduction. This past Thursday, I visited the "Splendors of Ancient Egypt" exhibit at the Phoenix Art Museum. This exhibit is on the last leg of a five city tour, consisting of over 200 artifacts from the Egyptian collection of the Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum in Hildesheim, Germany. The response to the exhibit has been truly amazing. This is not an exhibit where you can just walk in and look around. You have to purchase your ticket in advance for a specific date and time to tour. When I arrived on Thursday night, there were signs all over the doors saying the exhibit had sold out of tickets for the rest of the exhibition (which is supposed to close at the end of the month). Touring the show was a fantastic experience for me, and I'm very glad and fortunate to have seen the artifacts. After the tour, I purchased the show's catalog, which I just finished reading yesterday.
In the catalog, there are some references to the relationships between the various kings/pharaohs, gods and the animals which are sacred to the gods. One of the central myths to the ancient Egyptian religion involves Osiris, Horus, Isis and Seth. "After the creation, Osiris was given dominion, or kingship, over the land. He ruled with justice and maintained order, but his brother Seth was jealous and murdered him. Osiris's wife, Isis, used magical means to bring him back to life. He then became the principal god of the afterlife. A dispute over rulership ensued between Horus, the son of Osiris and Isis, and his uncle Seth, with Horus emerging as victor and asserting his right to follow his father on the throne of Egypt."
A little later, it says, "The myth of Osiris, who was able to gain eternal life by the grace of the sun god Re, was central to the practices of preparation for burial and the belief in the possibility of life after death in another world. It was also of vital importance in the orderly transition of power from the deceased king to his son. The new king was likened to the young, living Horus with the dead father considered to have entered the next life as Osiris."
Earlier in the book, I came across the following passage about falcons: "The falcon, for example, was associated with the celestial god Horus and the bird, as a representation of the present ruler or "living Horus," was an important symbol of Egyptian kingship." There were other birds mentioned in the text (the ibis, which was associated with the god Thoth, and the vulture, which represented the goddess Nekhbet), but there was not a single mention about eagles. Now, granted, this book is not an exhaustive text on the topic, but it did get me to thinking that perhaps a more correct lyric would have been "The falcon will rise again" instead of "The eagle will rise again."
Like I said, a quibble over a minor point. :)
Chinese Pity
This is one of two quotations at the beginning of Tom Friedman's book, The World is Flat (Chapter 8) that I thought is an excellent commentary on the state of American politics today:
"Chinese pity comes from their belief that we are a country in decline. More than a few Chinese friends have quoted to me the proverb fu bu guo san dai (wealth doesn't make it past three generations) as they wonder how we became so ill-disciplined, distracted and dissolute. The fury surrounding Monica-gate seemed an incomprehensible waste of time to a nation whose emperors were supplied with thousands of concubines. Chinese are equally astonished that Americans are allowing themselves to drown in debt and under-fund public schools while the media focus on fights over feeding tubes, displays of the Ten Commandments and how to eat as much as we can without getting fat."
-- James McGregor, a journalist-turned-businessman based in China, and a former chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, writing in The Washington Post, July 31, 2005
January 2, 2008
Who Controls the Middle East?
Juan Cole has an interesting blog post today featuring an animated map of the Middle East. The map shows who has controlled the Middle East since 3000 BCE. As Juan wrote:
Update: Ijtema has highlighted this post on their blog (thanks, iMuslim!), and she made a really good observation by comparing this video to the following Qur'anic ayah:
So true!
I'd have added a couple of phases at the end, including the Cold War divisions of states by their alliances with the US and the Soviet Union, and then the new US empire in Iraq and Afghanistan, plus bases in some of the Stans of Central Asia and Qatar and Kuwait.
Update: Ijtema has highlighted this post on their blog (thanks, iMuslim!), and she made a really good observation by comparing this video to the following Qur'anic ayah:
Do they not travel through the earth and see what was the End of those before them? They were more numerous than these and superior in strength and in the traces (they have left) in the land: Yet all that they accomplished was of no profit to them. (40:82)
So true!
January 1, 2008
Stupid Sara
Sometimes non-Muslims are so blinded by their hatred for Islam that they blame Islam for things our religion has nothing to do with. Consider the post Islam's War on Women by one Sara Coslett. Sara had noticed some demographic statistics for certain Middle Eastern countries that show a sex ratio favoring men:
These particular ratios are for the population as a whole but, Sara, taking them at face value, doesn't dig deep enough. Instead, she comes up with two pathetic reasons for the skewed sex ratios:
Except, this isn't true. If Sara had said India or China are notorious for practicing female infanticide, I'd have quickly agreed with her. The problem is, the countries Sara highlighted don't have very high abortion rates to begin with. According to Johnston's Archive, which tracks historical abortion statistics, we find that the abortion percentage for all residents, in and out of the country, were extremely low for the six countries in question. While not all countries have a full listing for their statistics, the abortion percentage for Qatar was 1.3% in 2004, 0.05% for Kuwait in 2001, and 0.07% for Bahrain in 2004. The abortion ratio wasn't available for either the UAE or Saudi Arabia; however, the total number of abortions in 2006 for both countries among residents was 63 and 5, respectively. Note that all of those abortions were obtained overseas, meaning no abortions were performed among residents at all inside those countries. (No statistics are available for Oman.) With numbers so low, there's no reason to believe abortion is a cause for the skewed sex ratio.
In fact, it is not. If we next look at the CIA's World Factbook, we can look at the sex ratio at birth. Here, we find that for Bahrain, there were 1.03 boys born for every girl (2007 est.), 1.04 boys for every girl in Kuwait (2007 est.), and 1.05 boys for every girl in Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE (2007 est.). Compare this to India (1.12 boys per girl; 2007 est.) and China (1.11 boys per girl, 2007 est.), and you see that Sara's argument with regard to female infanticide holds no water.
Sara's other argument is even more absurd:
Even if one were to accept Sara's argument at face value, the fact of the matter is that other sources, such as the World Factbook would provide fairly realistic estimates for the male-female population (see the "Age Structure" statistic).
Of course, there's one possibility that Sara hadn't considered, and that's immigration. Looking at NationMaster statistics, we see that immigrants make up the following percentages of the national population: Bahrain - 40.66%, Kuwait - 65.83%, Oman - 24.45%, Qatar - 78.34%, Saudi Arabia - 27.51%, and the UAE - 70.85%. And, as any expat will tell you, the vast majority of all expats are men. It's not surprising, then, that the sex ratio in the six Middle Eastern countries Sara highlighted should favor men: they're the ones who moved to these countries in search of work.
But Sara would rather blame Islam; that way she doesn't have to think too deeply about why things are the way they are:
Stupid Sara.
Update: Since writing this post last night, Sara has re-written her original post, plus written another. The problem is, while Sara realized that she made a mistake after reading my post, she compounded the original error by falling on another bogus claim:
Most of the remainder of the re-written first post is merely a rehash of her original post. The second post, Erratum: Islam's War on Women is a strange mish-mash of retractions, corrections, and old allegations. On the one hand, she admits to forgetting about the impact of immigrants into the six countries she originally highlighted. She also admits that she was wrong "...in my assumptions that the Muslim practice of honor killings and a disregard for women as people..." However, she also makes some odd statements, such as:
What Sara disregarded was the fact that she had not written anything about honor killings in her original post. What was there to refute or mention? Even so, honor killings is not going to be a high enough number to explain the skewed sex ratios. Honor killings do, of course, happen, but the number of killings committed is not going to be that high. This is merely Sara grasping at another straw.
Sara concluded her new post by writing:
That's it, Sara, keep beating your dead horse. You've been wrong in just about all your other "reasonings." Show us how more wrong you can be.
Update #2: Looked at Sara's blog once more, just to see if she had followed up on the comments I had made there the other day. No, she hasn't responded, and she's shut off her comments once again to only those who have "registered" (the usual cowardly BS tactic used by right-wing blogs who don't want to hear that the emperor wears no clothes.)
I wonder how is it [sic] that in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar the ratio of men to women is greater than 2/1, in Kuwait 1.5/1, Bahrain 1.34/1, Oman 1.26/1, and Saudi Arabia 1.22/1.
These particular ratios are for the population as a whole but, Sara, taking them at face value, doesn't dig deep enough. Instead, she comes up with two pathetic reasons for the skewed sex ratios:
Two possibilities come to mind. First, Muslim countries are notorious for practicing female infanticide.
Except, this isn't true. If Sara had said India or China are notorious for practicing female infanticide, I'd have quickly agreed with her. The problem is, the countries Sara highlighted don't have very high abortion rates to begin with. According to Johnston's Archive, which tracks historical abortion statistics, we find that the abortion percentage for all residents, in and out of the country, were extremely low for the six countries in question. While not all countries have a full listing for their statistics, the abortion percentage for Qatar was 1.3% in 2004, 0.05% for Kuwait in 2001, and 0.07% for Bahrain in 2004. The abortion ratio wasn't available for either the UAE or Saudi Arabia; however, the total number of abortions in 2006 for both countries among residents was 63 and 5, respectively. Note that all of those abortions were obtained overseas, meaning no abortions were performed among residents at all inside those countries. (No statistics are available for Oman.) With numbers so low, there's no reason to believe abortion is a cause for the skewed sex ratio.
In fact, it is not. If we next look at the CIA's World Factbook, we can look at the sex ratio at birth. Here, we find that for Bahrain, there were 1.03 boys born for every girl (2007 est.), 1.04 boys for every girl in Kuwait (2007 est.), and 1.05 boys for every girl in Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE (2007 est.). Compare this to India (1.12 boys per girl; 2007 est.) and China (1.11 boys per girl, 2007 est.), and you see that Sara's argument with regard to female infanticide holds no water.
Sara's other argument is even more absurd:
The other possible reason for such a disparity between males and females is that census counters do not include females when polling the population. We know that Muslims regard women as property, so like a slave, they would not be considered a human and thus not counted.
Even if one were to accept Sara's argument at face value, the fact of the matter is that other sources, such as the World Factbook would provide fairly realistic estimates for the male-female population (see the "Age Structure" statistic).
Of course, there's one possibility that Sara hadn't considered, and that's immigration. Looking at NationMaster statistics, we see that immigrants make up the following percentages of the national population: Bahrain - 40.66%, Kuwait - 65.83%, Oman - 24.45%, Qatar - 78.34%, Saudi Arabia - 27.51%, and the UAE - 70.85%. And, as any expat will tell you, the vast majority of all expats are men. It's not surprising, then, that the sex ratio in the six Middle Eastern countries Sara highlighted should favor men: they're the ones who moved to these countries in search of work.
But Sara would rather blame Islam; that way she doesn't have to think too deeply about why things are the way they are:
It is obvious to me Islam has declared war on its female population.
Stupid Sara.
Update: Since writing this post last night, Sara has re-written her original post, plus written another. The problem is, while Sara realized that she made a mistake after reading my post, she compounded the original error by falling on another bogus claim:
Clearly something tragic is happening to females after age 15. Therefore, instead of two possibilities I realized there was a third - honor killings.
Most of the remainder of the re-written first post is merely a rehash of her original post. The second post, Erratum: Islam's War on Women is a strange mish-mash of retractions, corrections, and old allegations. On the one hand, she admits to forgetting about the impact of immigrants into the six countries she originally highlighted. She also admits that she was wrong "...in my assumptions that the Muslim practice of honor killings and a disregard for women as people..." However, she also makes some odd statements, such as:
Surprisingly I noticed Mr. JDsg did not refute or even mention anything about honor killings.
What Sara disregarded was the fact that she had not written anything about honor killings in her original post. What was there to refute or mention? Even so, honor killings is not going to be a high enough number to explain the skewed sex ratios. Honor killings do, of course, happen, but the number of killings committed is not going to be that high. This is merely Sara grasping at another straw.
Sara concluded her new post by writing:
While population data is a poor example for Islam’s War on Women, the war does continue.
That's it, Sara, keep beating your dead horse. You've been wrong in just about all your other "reasonings." Show us how more wrong you can be.
Update #2: Looked at Sara's blog once more, just to see if she had followed up on the comments I had made there the other day. No, she hasn't responded, and she's shut off her comments once again to only those who have "registered" (the usual cowardly BS tactic used by right-wing blogs who don't want to hear that the emperor wears no clothes.)
Marty Feldman - Lightning-Coach Tours
I was breezing through the Internet, caught a brief glimpse of a Monty Python video and decided to post a Marty Feldman video instead. (Yeah, go figure!) This is "Lightning Coach Tours," originally aired on the BBC on December 9, 1968, from Marty's Marty show, actually known as It's Marty (as of the time of the showing; this was the first episode from the second season, which used a different name for the series).
The coach driver ("Everybody back on the coach!") is John Junkin, who had a long, distinguished career as an actor, dying a little less than two years ago, on March 7, 2006.
The coach driver ("Everybody back on the coach!") is John Junkin, who had a long, distinguished career as an actor, dying a little less than two years ago, on March 7, 2006.
December 30, 2007
Catholic Naked Jogging
Odd news story out of Colorado. The incident actually took place back in June, but this news report is as of December 20th. One would think that if he "sweats profusely if he wears clothing," then he needs to move further north... say, Alaska? Then he should be able to do nude jogging in the wilderness (and be a feast for the mosquitoes) to his (and their) content.
GREELEY, Colo. - A Catholic priest charged with indecent exposure after being accused of jogging naked in the pre-dawn darkness has pleaded not guilty and asked for a jury trial.
The Rev. Robert Whipkey was arrested June 22 in Frederick, about 25 miles north of Denver, after an officer saw him walking on a street naked at 4:35 a.m. Whipkey told police he jogged naked because he sweats profusely if he wears clothing, according an arrest report.
Whipkey did not speak at a hearing Tuesday, and neither he nor his attorneys would comment afterward. His trial is scheduled for March.
Whipkey served parishes in Frederick, Mead and Erie but was placed on administrative leave by the Archdiocese of Denver in August.
The archdiocese said Whipkey was investigated for "inappropriate personal behavior" more than eight years ago when he was a pastor in Sterling. The archdiocese said that incident did not involve "physical or sexual contact with another individual," but it gave no other details.
December 29, 2007
Psychopathic American Politics, Giuliani-Style
Personally, I don't think I could ever vote for any Republican ever again. Not even for a dog catcher's position. Republicans have shown that they can't be trusted to run any administration. They lack American values.
And then there's Rudy Giuliani.
The Guardian has produced a video that intersperses clips from a rally for Giuliani in someone's home in Manchester, New Hampshire with clips from an interview with Giuliani's biographer, Wayne Barrett, who's ... shall we say ... less than impressed with him.
What immediately caught the attention of other people (e.g., Crooks & Liars) was a comment made by John Deady, co-chair for New Hampshire’s Veterans for Rudy:
While Deady's words are certainly ignorant and offensive, another man interviewed in the video comes out as saying (at the 3:15 mark of the Guardian video), "You have to say, 'Enough with this; we're going to protect what is ours. If it means we got to shoot you in the head, so be it.'"
Yeah, that's going to win hearts and minds, all right. Welcome to psychopathic American politics, Giuliani-style.
Update: According to Faux News, John Deady has resigned from the Giuliani campaign after making his Islamophobic comments:
And then there's Rudy Giuliani.
The Guardian has produced a video that intersperses clips from a rally for Giuliani in someone's home in Manchester, New Hampshire with clips from an interview with Giuliani's biographer, Wayne Barrett, who's ... shall we say ... less than impressed with him.
What immediately caught the attention of other people (e.g., Crooks & Liars) was a comment made by John Deady, co-chair for New Hampshire’s Veterans for Rudy:
...(Rudy Giuliani has) the knowledge and judgment to attack one of the most difficult problems in current history. And that is the rise of the Muslims. And make no mistake about it, this hasn’t happened for a thousand years. These people are very, very dedicated. They’re also very smart, in their own way. And we need to keep the feet to the fire and keep pressing these people ‘til we defeat them or chase them back to their caves, or in other words, get rid of them.
While Deady's words are certainly ignorant and offensive, another man interviewed in the video comes out as saying (at the 3:15 mark of the Guardian video), "You have to say, 'Enough with this; we're going to protect what is ours. If it means we got to shoot you in the head, so be it.'"
Yeah, that's going to win hearts and minds, all right. Welcome to psychopathic American politics, Giuliani-style.
Update: According to Faux News, John Deady has resigned from the Giuliani campaign after making his Islamophobic comments:
Official Statement from Rudy Giuliani New Hampshire Chairman Wayne Semprini:
“Mr. Deady offered his resignation from his volunteer position in the campaign and I accepted his resignation.”
December 25, 2007
December 24, 2007
Why Islam?
I just came across this blog post from the religion writer for the Chicago Tribune, Manya Brachear. The Islamic Circle of North America-Chicago has put up a billboard on I-294 near O'Hare International Airport that reads "ISLAM" and has a toll-free number and website address (whyislam.org). I think it's an interesting way to approach dawah and, apparently, the billboard has led to some reversions, alhamdulillah. Below is a Youtube video from ICNA showing the billboard and providing additional information at the end (run time: 1:14).
In the past month, I’ve received more than a dozen calls about a billboard erected near O’Hare Airport asking “Why Islam?” Why drivers have chosen to call me instead of the toll-free number on the sign frankly baffles me.
I decided to let Sabeel Ahmed, a spokesman for the group sponsoring the billboards, address some of the callers’ concerns.
Callers wanted to know why such a billboard was necessary. What did it accomplish? And who was funding such an expensive advertising endeavor? And who calls that number? (I started to wonder myself when my phone kept ringing.)
Most callers to the hotline seek translations of the Quran in English or Spanish or literature about the faith, said Ahmed, a spokesman for the Islamic Circle of North America. A smaller percentage asks specific questions about events in the Middle East. Some are Muslims grateful for the positive publicity. Some have made donations to help fund the campaign.
Some who have dialed 1-877-WHY-ISLAM have converted to the faith, Ahmed said. For them, the Chicago chapter of ICNA has started classes in Chicago and Villa Park.
Then, Ahmed said, there are the angry callers who just want to tell Muslims they’re wrong.
"Usually I listen to what they’re saying because they’re already emotional to begin with,” Ahmed said. “We want them to express their views."
James Gustafson of Chicago was one of those drivers who called me instead of the number. He was indeed angry.
"They’re rubbing it in our face,” he said. “I don’t buy what they’re saying. These people are not standing up like they should against these radical Islamic terrorists.”
Ahmed has heard those sentiments.
"After they slow down, we go about explaining to them in the context. Suicide is forbidden by Islam and killing innocent people is forbidden,” he said. "We recite them words from the Quran that say that. Muslims should not be judged by the actions of a few people, just like Christians and Jews should not be judged by actions of a few.”
A quick glance at comments posted to The Seeker in recent months shows that a number of people harshly judge Islam, and occasionally other faiths.
Instead of asking “Why Islam?” I’d like to ask “Why so much hostility?”
December 23, 2007
Odd Stories from Asia
I picked up a copy of Asia Weekly yesterday; this is a small magazine published in Hong Kong, made up primarily of news stories about Asia from newspapers and magazines worldwide. In a recent issue (#40; December 10th-16th), there were a number of short but very odd stories that are worth sharing.
First, in the "Would You Believe It?" section, a couple of stories from China:
The next story comes from a two-page feature, "My Own Private Korea," which is a selection of excerpts from the writings of George Clayton Foulk, an American naval officer who was an intelligence officer attached to the US Embassy in Korea in the early 1880s (and who was fluent in Korean). The following excerpt comes from the forthcoming book, Inside the Hermit Kingdom: The 1884 Korea Travel Diary of George Clayton Foulk (which sounds fascinating):
Finally, an obituary for a Malaysian policeman who had plenty of chances to die while on duty but finally passed away at home:
Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raje'un.
First, in the "Would You Believe It?" section, a couple of stories from China:
Health requirements are so strict for women hoping to enter the People's Liberation Army that some recruits try to make up for deficient oral health by replacing their rotten gnashers with dog teeth, reports China's Shenyang Evening News. According to an "unnamed military expert," one recruit from a recent class of 268 young women in Shenyang "failed her physical check last week because she had canine [dog's] teeth."
Doctors in China admit they are baffled after a man began to perspire green sweat. Cheng Shunguo, 52, of Wuhan, says his sweat turned green in the middle of November. "I noticed that my underwear and bed sheets were all green," he said, reports Ananova. Doctors carried out blood tests on Cheng, but found everything to be normal. "We cannot find the cause," admitted a spokesman for the hospital, which reported the case to media in the hope of finding a solution. In 2004, a similar case was reported in China's Guangdong province.
A migrant worker from Chengdu has suffered from a "strange affliction" since 1996, reports China Daily. When suddenly gripped by bouts of the unknown illness, the middle-aged woman is only able to walk backwards. Doctors have been unable to find the cause.
The next story comes from a two-page feature, "My Own Private Korea," which is a selection of excerpts from the writings of George Clayton Foulk, an American naval officer who was an intelligence officer attached to the US Embassy in Korea in the early 1880s (and who was fluent in Korean). The following excerpt comes from the forthcoming book, Inside the Hermit Kingdom: The 1884 Korea Travel Diary of George Clayton Foulk (which sounds fascinating):
A private encounter with two female entertainers:
At one place, two rather pretty girls came in. As usual at first, they were scared out of their wits at the sight of a man with short hair, and "red" (brown) at that. But after I had showed them a mirror, some photographs, &c., and had talked a while, they became quite at home. They sang for me, and told me stories. Suddenly one of them, the prettiest too, reached behind her and brought out a brass bowl, the Korean chamber pot, which girls of caste and officers always carry with them (by a servant) when they go away from home. Without moving an inch from her position, three feet from me, she put this under her clothes, and while she made the pot ring, went on with her conversation as if nothing at all unusual was going on! Great Caesar! I have been to strange lands, but I never experienced anything like this!
Finally, an obituary for a Malaysian policeman who had plenty of chances to die while on duty but finally passed away at home:
To most of his colleagues, as well as the criminals he was chasing, Kulasingam Sabaratnam, or "Kula," might have well been the toughest person they knew on the Royal Malaysian Police Force, says The New Straits Times. He was known for taking risks and surviving them. "Since you all have wives and families, let me go first," he usually told his officers before an action. "I'm not married." Kulasingam's fierce dedication to his work helped to bring about the demise of 25 secret societies and several of the most notorious criminals active in Malaysia during the 1970s, such as the "infamous" robber Botak Chin. In his 35 years on the fource, Kula was spashed with acid, shot, attacked by an axe-wielding psychopath and nearly crushed by a falling tree. In the end, he died after slipping in his bathroom and fracturing a hip. He was bedridden after hip-replacement surgery and died November 29 at the age of 77 after contracting pneumonia. Over 200 people paid their last respects to the former Johor Criminal Investigation Department chief at his funeral.
Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raje'un.
December 22, 2007
The Call: Let the Day Begin
Crooks & Liars has an interesting video on their "Late Night Music Club" today with what they call "a batch of pure, unstepped-on science fiction geek musical heroin." The song is The Call's "Let the Day Begin," played to a video montage of clips from "Battlestar Galactica" (the SciFi channel version). It's a rather interesting video. Check it out. (Run time: 4:01)
December 21, 2007
Dan Fogelberg, RIP
Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raje'un
This is a few days late, but I wanted to pay tribute to a great singer, Dan Fogelberg, who died of prostate cancer last Sunday, the 16th, at the age of 56. (Guys, if you haven't had a medical checkup in a while, now's the time!)
The following video is of Dan in concert, singing his 1981 hit, "Leader of the Band" (run time: 4:28), my favorite song of his.
This is a few days late, but I wanted to pay tribute to a great singer, Dan Fogelberg, who died of prostate cancer last Sunday, the 16th, at the age of 56. (Guys, if you haven't had a medical checkup in a while, now's the time!)
The following video is of Dan in concert, singing his 1981 hit, "Leader of the Band" (run time: 4:28), my favorite song of his.
December 19, 2007
Tied for Third
I'm happy to say, alhamdulillah, that I tied for third in this month's photography competition, sponsored by PhotoVideoi magazine. This was the second time I had entered a photo for the competition; the first photo hadn't made the top 20 (out of a total of 42 submissions). This month's theme, "Color," drew in a total of 76 submissions, so I'm rather happy that my photo did so well. This is the photo I submitted, along with the caption I wrote:
Hungry Ghost Offering
One thing I didn't mention in the caption is that this photo was taken by a simple digital point-and-shoot camera. Although Milady and I normally use our DSLR, that doesn't mean that the cheaper, less sophisticated cameras can't take good quality photographs.
Milady also submitted one of her photos for the first time:
Colours in Context
Below is a listing of the other 15 photos that were published this month in addition to my own (asterisks indicate photos that are among my favorite submissions):
7. Colours - Liew Tong Leng (Winner)
8. Colours Everywhere - Jose Laurente Jr (Winner - Photographer of the Year 2007)*
13. Colour - Wee Keng Hor
16. Colours - Tan Yu Han
22. All the Colours of the Rainbow - Camillus Gerard Cai
25. Flowers of the sea - Mohamad Noor B Abd Rashid Lim*
37. Lory Colours - Andrew JK Tan*
38. The Colours of Excitement - Chong Yin In
39. Ice Sets Fire - Sandra Wang
49. Xmas Tree - Andreas Iwan Sudharma
52. Colourful Hats - Sahari Sariman*
53. What Colour is your World - Erik Sevilla Estrada
55. Colourful Benches - Clara Tan*
65. Food Colours - Yee Lai Ying
76. Childhood Love - Ng Cheng Cong
These are some of my other favorite submissions, but were not published by the editors:
1. Colours - Wilson Low
2. Heavenly Flower - Teo Sze Lee
14. Bamboo Sea - Peh Chee Ee
15. Lights and Water - David Ng Soon Thong
47. Peaceful Trondheim - Lee Men Huang
73. Miss Colourful - Benjamin Balmoris Jr
Hungry Ghost Offering
This photo showed for me the value of making mistakes. Several years ago, at the start of the Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival, my wife and I walked around the neighborhood taking photos. I intended to take a regular picture of this small shrine using my flash (as the picture was taken in the early evening). However, I had forgotten to turn the flash on and this was the result. By contrast, the next photo I took, with the flash on, was rather boring and uninspiring; the light took all the mystery out of the photo. I've always enjoyed this photo for the red hues. The natural light complements the colors of the fruit and booklet.
One thing I didn't mention in the caption is that this photo was taken by a simple digital point-and-shoot camera. Although Milady and I normally use our DSLR, that doesn't mean that the cheaper, less sophisticated cameras can't take good quality photographs.
Milady also submitted one of her photos for the first time:
Colours in Context
This photo was taken at Sentosa. What I like about this photo is that it combines both natural and man-made colours. We use colours in different contexts; here, the use of red and yellow highlights the location of the fire hydrant so that it can be seen very quickly in an emergency. Whereas, among the vegetation, the yellow colour of the flowers helps to attract insects for pollination.
Below is a listing of the other 15 photos that were published this month in addition to my own (asterisks indicate photos that are among my favorite submissions):
7. Colours - Liew Tong Leng (Winner)
8. Colours Everywhere - Jose Laurente Jr (Winner - Photographer of the Year 2007)*
13. Colour - Wee Keng Hor
16. Colours - Tan Yu Han
22. All the Colours of the Rainbow - Camillus Gerard Cai
25. Flowers of the sea - Mohamad Noor B Abd Rashid Lim*
37. Lory Colours - Andrew JK Tan*
38. The Colours of Excitement - Chong Yin In
39. Ice Sets Fire - Sandra Wang
49. Xmas Tree - Andreas Iwan Sudharma
52. Colourful Hats - Sahari Sariman*
53. What Colour is your World - Erik Sevilla Estrada
55. Colourful Benches - Clara Tan*
65. Food Colours - Yee Lai Ying
76. Childhood Love - Ng Cheng Cong
These are some of my other favorite submissions, but were not published by the editors:
1. Colours - Wilson Low
2. Heavenly Flower - Teo Sze Lee
14. Bamboo Sea - Peh Chee Ee
15. Lights and Water - David Ng Soon Thong
47. Peaceful Trondheim - Lee Men Huang
73. Miss Colourful - Benjamin Balmoris Jr
Afghan Marriage
Rob Wagner at 13 Martyrs talked about a photo from a UNICEF photo competition, the theme being the hardships faced by children around the world.
This particular photo, which won the competition, was taken by American Stephanie Sinclair. She said she was struck by how many young girls are married to much older men. This is a 40-year-old bridegroom and his 11-year-old bride during their wedding in Damarda, Afghanistan.
The problem I have with this photo in that, without context, the image may lead to wild conjecture. What is the man's motive for marrying this young girl? We don't know. I'm sure most Westerners would focus on the sexual aspect. I think this is what most Western men would first think of if they were given the chance to marry someone as young as this girl. That being what they would do, they ascribe this motive to the Afghan man.
But we don't know what's really in this man's heart, and his having sex with her may be years away. In a country where the average life expectancy (for both men and women) is less than 44 years (CIA World Factbook), the chances of him surviving much longer are not too good. Is she an orphan and he's providing a stable home for her? Does she come from a poor family and marrying her is a way for him to help provide for her now and later, after death, through an inheritance? Allahu alim.
Unfortunately, people often judge other cultures through their own cultural biases and, all too often, find the other culture wanting, even though they rarely have enough information to make an informed judgment. This is culture shock, no different than if a person went to Afghanistan and witnessed this scene him or herself.
This particular photo, which won the competition, was taken by American Stephanie Sinclair. She said she was struck by how many young girls are married to much older men. This is a 40-year-old bridegroom and his 11-year-old bride during their wedding in Damarda, Afghanistan.
The problem I have with this photo in that, without context, the image may lead to wild conjecture. What is the man's motive for marrying this young girl? We don't know. I'm sure most Westerners would focus on the sexual aspect. I think this is what most Western men would first think of if they were given the chance to marry someone as young as this girl. That being what they would do, they ascribe this motive to the Afghan man.
But we don't know what's really in this man's heart, and his having sex with her may be years away. In a country where the average life expectancy (for both men and women) is less than 44 years (CIA World Factbook), the chances of him surviving much longer are not too good. Is she an orphan and he's providing a stable home for her? Does she come from a poor family and marrying her is a way for him to help provide for her now and later, after death, through an inheritance? Allahu alim.
Unfortunately, people often judge other cultures through their own cultural biases and, all too often, find the other culture wanting, even though they rarely have enough information to make an informed judgment. This is culture shock, no different than if a person went to Afghanistan and witnessed this scene him or herself.
December 18, 2007
The Blog Readability Test
Not a bad level, actually. As a writer, I am concerned about having my writing as readable as possible. Not that I try to dumb down my writing, but I do want people to understand what I'm saying as easily as possible. (I think it also helps that I try to use George Orwell's rules at the end of his essay, Politics and the English Language.)
BTW, my other blogs come out as:
Dunner's Learn About Islam - Junior High School Level
Ang Moh in SG - Elementary School Level
Areology - Genius Level
The readability level of Areology isn't any surprise as that's a blog devoted to science and space exploration. You know, something you need an ed-you-kay-shun to understand. ;)
BTW, my other blogs come out as:
Dunner's Learn About Islam - Junior High School Level
Ang Moh in SG - Elementary School Level
Areology - Genius Level
The readability level of Areology isn't any surprise as that's a blog devoted to science and space exploration. You know, something you need an ed-you-kay-shun to understand. ;)
December 16, 2007
U.S. Primary Energy Consumption by Source and Sector, 2006
I'm becoming more involved in the analysis of oil and energy usage worldwide, and I found this little diagram just now that's rather helpful in understanding where US energy sources come from and whom they supply. (Click on the diagram to enlarge.)
Source: Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Review 2006, Tables 1.3 and 2.1b-2.1f, and 10.3.
On the left side are the basic sources of energy: petroleum, natural gas, coal, renewable energy sources (such as solar power, ethanol, etc.), and nuclear energy. The right side shows, on a very basic level, who gets that energy: transportation, industrial, residential & commercial, and electric power. Now, obviously, industrial and residential & commercial, all get electricity, but the government has split that source of power out separately. Each of the sources and sectors have their own percentage, showing how much each contributes and consumes, respectively.
The lines connecting the two sides also have two sets of numbers each. For example, 100% of nuclear power obviously goes to electric power; however, nuclear power only makes up 21% of all the electrical power in the US. Likewise, transportation derives 96% of all its fuel from petroleum; natural gas and renewable energy sources (e.g., ethanol) only supply 2% each of transportation's fuel needs.
Notes:
* Percentages do not necessarily equal 100% due to rounding.
1 Excludes 0.5 quadrillion Btu of ethanol, which is included in "Renewable Energy.”
2 Excludes supplemental gaseous fuels.
3 Includes 0.1 quadrillion Btu of coal coke net imports.
4 Conventional hydroelectric power, geothermal, solar/PV, wind, and biomass.
5 Includes industrial combined-heat-and-power (CHP) and industrial electricity-only plants.
6 Includes commercial combined-heat-and-power (CHP) and commercial electricity-only plants.
7 Electricity-only and combined-heat-and-power (CHP) plants whose primary business is to sell electricity, or electricity and heat, to the public.
Source: Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Review 2006, Tables 1.3 and 2.1b-2.1f, and 10.3.On the left side are the basic sources of energy: petroleum, natural gas, coal, renewable energy sources (such as solar power, ethanol, etc.), and nuclear energy. The right side shows, on a very basic level, who gets that energy: transportation, industrial, residential & commercial, and electric power. Now, obviously, industrial and residential & commercial, all get electricity, but the government has split that source of power out separately. Each of the sources and sectors have their own percentage, showing how much each contributes and consumes, respectively.
The lines connecting the two sides also have two sets of numbers each. For example, 100% of nuclear power obviously goes to electric power; however, nuclear power only makes up 21% of all the electrical power in the US. Likewise, transportation derives 96% of all its fuel from petroleum; natural gas and renewable energy sources (e.g., ethanol) only supply 2% each of transportation's fuel needs.
Notes:
* Percentages do not necessarily equal 100% due to rounding.
1 Excludes 0.5 quadrillion Btu of ethanol, which is included in "Renewable Energy.”
2 Excludes supplemental gaseous fuels.
3 Includes 0.1 quadrillion Btu of coal coke net imports.
4 Conventional hydroelectric power, geothermal, solar/PV, wind, and biomass.
5 Includes industrial combined-heat-and-power (CHP) and industrial electricity-only plants.
6 Includes commercial combined-heat-and-power (CHP) and commercial electricity-only plants.
7 Electricity-only and combined-heat-and-power (CHP) plants whose primary business is to sell electricity, or electricity and heat, to the public.
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