Brandon Mull

No so much a book review as an Author review.

Heidi and I have really enjoyed his books. The candy shop wars is perfect for little kids that love candy. As in all little kids. It's set in the shadow of Mt. Diablo. 4 kids discover a magical candy shop and adventure follows. Its a 2-4 day read depending on how much time you have in the evening. Our boys' attention span isn't up to a book with out pictures yet but it is definitly on our family list of books to read to our kids. I picked up "Fablehaven" in 2005 and really enjoyed it. Heidi picked it up a year or two back and we got to the point where we were anxiously waiting for the sequels to come out. Book 5 (the final book) had us reading into the wee hours of the night.
A brother and a sister discover that their granparents are care takers of a haven for magical creaturs; Satyrs, fairies, golems, trolls and some many others. It's your basic stop the bad guys before they take over the world but the imagery and "twists" are very fun. They draw upon the imagination that exists in all children and many of us "grown ups".



I hope some of you pick them up and tell me what you think. Start with "The Candy Shop Wars" since it is a very small investment in time and stands alone. Anyone with kids or anyone that remembers what it was like being a child will love them because its every kids dream to discover treasure, magic candy and have adventures.

Jodhaa Akbar

I am not much into foreign films but this one is amazing. As a history nerd it is my opinion that Emperor Jallaludin Mohammad Akbar was one of the greatest rulers this world has ever seen. He unified most of India and he was known as a great warrior and a merciful ruler. This is the story of him and his first wife, a Hindu woman who was the princess of the Amer region. Hindu tradition states that it was the people who gave him the title of Akbar which means "the great" after he instilled laws that allowed for greater equality among Hindus and Muslims. The romance is not heavy handed, it is something you could watch sitting next to your father. There is some battlefield violence so I would not recommend watching the battle scenes with children, the musical sequences however will make anyone want to dance. The sword fighting sequences are extremely well done (the Amer province was famous for their duelists) and most of it is correct according to tradition. It is a movie full of color, emotion, and history. However, if you do not like watching movies that need subtitles this movie is not for you since it is entirely in Hindi. For two of my favorite scenes follow these two links. They don't have subtitles but that doesn't matter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py8VCIzJMiw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt93yH689Dg

I, Robot

I recently read the original version of I, Robot, and found it quite interesting. At a time in the not too distant future human kind has created sentient life with a positronic brain capable of amazing things. Robots are banned from earth but serve many purposes abroad. I found it a much more interesting and stimulating story than the one the movie portrayed. Quite different in fact, but very enjoyable. I would recommend it as a quick science fiction read.

Solar System Necklace

So I saw this cool solar system necklace the other day so I decided to make Sarah one.  It's roughly to scale each bead being 10 or 100 million miles.  The beads are made of painted burl wood.  I felt bad painting the burl but it turned out pretty good.  I tried silver wire for Saturn's rings but couldn't get it to look good so I settled for a burl ring there.


The cheesy coolness of this necklace is the absence of the sun, it being the wearer, the light of my life, the center of my solar system, Sarah.

Toilet paper roll face sculptures

So, I saw these cool faces made from toilet paper rolls and thought I'd give them a try.  Here are my first three attempts.

Here are some links to the originals that I saw:

Link 1

Link 2

Spies are kinda cool

Recent Russian Spy Tricks

I want one of these (if anyone get's me for Christmas remember this)
The real spy nickle FBI case

you can buy one here: Spy Stuff

Watson Super Computer

This will be fun to watch (or read about at least)

http://www.research.ibm.com/deepqa/

Craig Venter unveils "synthetic life" | Video on TED.com

"To live, to err, to fall to triumph and to recreate life out of life" James Joyce

"See things not as they are, but as they might be" American Prometheus, a biography of Oppenheimer

"What I cannot build, i cannot understand" Richard Fenniman


Craig Venter unveils "synthetic life" | Video on TED.com

LOST

What did you think of the conclusion?

Is anyone still  a fan?

Book Review: Guns Germs and Steel

Finished reading this book recently. It has been sitting on my bookshelf since 2002 I think. Too bad it took me so long to get around to reading it. It was great. Very informative and interesting. It is a brief history of humankind over the last 13,000+ years. Obviously, in covering so much ground in 400 or so pages, the book is low on specifics.  What it does is give a broad overview of why the several histories of different civilizations played out so differently.  For example, why did Europe conquer America and not the other way around?  He goes beyond the proximate causes of guns germs and steel and attempts to root out the ultimate causes that led to history playing out as it did.  It is a great book and well worth the read.

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Things that don't make sense

Studying up on the Kuiper Belt I found some other interesting articles of things that don't make sense.

 
13 things that don't make sense

13 more things


Which one do you find most intriguing?  If yours is not on the list what is it?

Flash Forward

Anyone watching Flash Forward?  We've watched though the 3rd episode and it's pretty fun so far.  Its off island Lost like so far.

The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World

A national best seller and yet another Michael Pollan book that has won me over. Pollan focuses on four main plants that owe their current abundance to the cultivation of humans. In turn we owe a lot of our current abundance to them as well. I enjoyed how beautiful the writing was throughout the book, and especially enjoyed the idea of today's gardener being somewhat of a modern alchemist, turning dusty plants into ripe gold. For anyone that has an interest in botany, genetics, and gardening, this book was a fun and fairly quick read.

Tilt Shift

I gave fake tilt shift photography a try...the first 3 photos I did not take...just tried the tilt shift technique on them...The last I took from an airplane coming home from Hawaii. I think it worked the best. I'm not sure if it's my technique or my source photos or both...but I'm not all that happy with the results yet. Perhaps there's not enough blur. Anyway let me know what you think. If your wondering what tilt shift photography is google it for some good examples.

Photo Highlights

My camera is broken (shutter mechanism is not working). So I thought I'd post some of my favorite photos in it's memory. Some of the source photos were taken on Mom's or Matthew's camera though.

I've been experimenting with HDR photography and High Key photos. Let me know what you think.

Persimmons HDR 01

(Matthew has made an HDR with this crop that I like better)

Persimmons HDR 02

Persimmons HDR 03

Pomegranates and Ashes 01

Pomegranates and Ashes 02

Umpqua Hot Springs HDR 01

Tunnel Falls HDR 01

Chemical Warfare

It jumps out of grasp

It’s getting dark. In a flash, I notice it.  It’s tall.  It’s beckoning me.  My pulse races, yet I continue.  Just as I think I will reach it, it jumps out of grasp.  No matter how fast I run, it gets away.   Unless…good, the next street light is burnt out.

V

Do you guys remember "V"?  Anyway ABC is giving the series a refresh and the premiere is tonight.  I remember watching it as a kid but not much more.  Here's a preview.