October 18, 2002
Pardon me
Forgive me for not updating enough lately. My wrists have begun to feel something similiar to Carpal Tunnel I guess. I'm trying not to push them too hard. I guess it's been too much typing, too much playing guitar, and too many manual overrides (and yes, I am doing a lot of math even in the first week...plus I love that book).
So I probably won't be making another entry for a few days. Sorry about that, but I'd rather save my wrists. Guess this means I'll have to cut back on the guitar time too. Sigh. I did find some English language bookstores here, though, so I can go read.
So what's news? More pictures of course!
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| A church at the Altmarkt. The moon is off to the right |
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| This one I call Moon Reflecting in Window |
Dresden definitely is a great city for night photography. Tons of old Baroque buildings with floodlights attached. I really need to get a tripod though.
And, I finally bought a phone...
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| My new cell phone |
For those curious, my numbers are: At home, (0351)7991618, mobile, (0179)7771139. If you are calling from outside Germany, you dial the international code for germany (which I forget), and don't dial the leading 0 in the area code. I must say cell phones are, I think, cheaper than anything in the US. I signed a two year contract (chuckle). The phone costs 8 euros a month. With that, you receive as many calls as you want, for as much time as you want. You have to pay between .07 euros - .30 euros a minute for outgoing calls, depending on who you call (these fees are while you're mobile). When you're with a half a kilometer of your house, your cell phone switches phone numbers (see my "At home" number above) and then it's cheaper to make calls (.03 euros - .07 euros a minute). I never owned a cell phone in the US, but this seems to be cheaper....Oh yeah, and this allows 150 free text messages a month, after that it's .07 per message.
Anyway, reading my friend Doug's blog as I often do (we've linked back and forth between each other more times than I've had sex. Well okay maybe not.), I came across this entry. Looks like a cool idea. Too bad I live in Germany, where that sort of thing would be pretty pointless(?). Doug has a serious fascination Vietnam...I wonder why he never talks about the Gulf of Tonkin incident, though? That's something I've thought about ever since September 11th, 2001...and the reason I'll never trust a politician. Well, okay, if Doug became a politician I'd probably trust him. But only for a few years. Like I said, political office is like the One Ring, corrupting all who even try to wield the power for good.
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Further back...
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Previous Trips...
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Hiking Mount Whitney, 2007 
Spring Break in West Virginia, 2005
New Year's in Paris, 2003-2004
Coming to America, 2003
Protesting in Berlin, 2003
Prague Bier-Tour, 2002
Dresden, 2002
Recent Reading
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The Curve of Binding Energy
John McPhee follows famous physicist Ted Taylor in this piece that was -- and probably still -- ahead of its time.
Originally published in 1973, McPhee outlined the coming security and environmental issues surrounding the plutonium enrichment processes. For the most part, though, McPhee invites the reader to draw his or her own conclusions, although he does point out the ease with which any number of people could obtain the material (though not necessarily the manufacturing prowess) to make an atomic weapon.
The question still sits in my mind after reading -- are we being too paranoid, or not paranoid enough?
Rated 
by reid
on October 01, 2007
by reid
on October 01, 2007
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Zodiac
Zodiac touts itself as an 'eco-thriller,' and it is just that. Told from the first-person perspective of ST (or Sangamon Taylor), the book recounts a roughly six-month period of his life busting big corporations for violating environmental laws.
Not the tree-hugging political activist type, ST is equipped with chem labs, scuba divers, maps, and an organization (GEE International, the Group of Environmental Extremists) that masterfully brings the press into the fold to scare the public with the very real dangers posed by illegal dumping. It's sort of a Sierra Club member's wet dream -- a band of ecowarriors that actually get things done.
ST finds something odd happening in Boston Harbor during his tale: a new form of pollution that could poison everyone on the planet in a matter of weeks. His quest to uncover exactly who and what is causing the latest spike in toxins goes all the way up to the President of the United States, and could end up costing him his own life.
While a neat and fast-paced tale, the novel drags on a bit toward the end, begging disbelief from even the most forgiving sci-fi folk. While not as good as his latest offerings, it's still a great read for those that enjoy a good Stephenson novel (or even those who don't).
Rated 
by reid
on July 17, 2005
by reid
on July 17, 2005
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Cat's Cradle
A few years ago, I attempted to woo an online datee, and she immediately criticized me for my politics. I protested the war on Iraq, which was "a shame." She defended her position of complete noninvolvement by standing behind Vonnegut.
It may seem odd to open a review that way. My assumption is now not that she was an idiot, but that she had only read Cat's Cradle, and only with a rather odd viewpoint.
Cat's Cradle looks at a cold-war world where the personifications of religious, political, and scientific single-mindedness collide to destroy the world.
Vonnegut tells a masterful tale, but it makes me wonder what one person's indifference would do to prevent us from all dying? So for now I will continue to unblindly stop unjust wars, even while I'm only reading.
Rated by reid
on July 17, 2005
by reid
on July 17, 2005