WE JUST BROKE THE SPEED OF LIGHT!!!

By we, I do not mean me and my collection of scientists that I keep locked in a basement, although the truth isn't too far from that.  It isn't my basement, it's the CERN facility located in Italy, and by "we" I mean all of us collectively, as humans but most specifically the scientists involved in the process.

You can read the story on the Telegraph's website here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/8782895/CERN-scientists-break-the-speed-of-light.html

I'm not going to talk about the scientific ramifications of this new discovery (which still needs to be tested by outside scientists to verify its validity - data will be released Friday for this purpose) or how this might have an effect on politics, policies, etc...

What I want to talk about is us, and what this means for us as members of the human race.

Human beings are capable of some pretty amazing things. We have and continue to battle and conquer various diseases that plagued our ancestors.  We've created implements whose use has allowed us longer and better lives and greater convenience.   We launched a dog into space and put a man on the moon.  We've sent satellites off into space to reach to the furthest stretches of the universe.

We hope.

We dream.

We make it real.

We have just seen something amazing, something miraculous.  Something that might just make us better as humans...

Dancing with the Devil, Flirting with Death, and Tacos

I just finished (literally, as in less that 5 minutes ago) a book that I enjoyed SO much I had to share it immediately.  It's called Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Seattle author Lish McBride and it is absolutely fantastic.

So great in fact, that  I'm tempted to wake up my roommate and force him to read it too, and go to the bf's and do the same to him!  ;)

Seriously though, the book really is great.  It tells the story of Sam LaCroix, a poor, directionless college drop-out who spends his days dreaming of flipping burgers while forced to work the register in a fast food dive.  On the plus side - Sam has awesome friends and a great sense of humor, that is until a big baddie storms into their lives and all hell breaks loose.  Don't worry though, he never loses the humor.

I enjoyed every second of discovery with this book, so I'm loathe to say anything else for fear of spoiling or giving anything away.

I will say that HMC, N has a bit of everything that I love, all bundled into one great package: Whedonesque humor, well-fleshed out characters (pun intended?), a solid story, sufficiently creepy bad guys, GREAT FEMALE CHARACTERS, zombies, witches, the fey, Seattle, werewolves, dragons and garden gnomes, just to name a few...

No really, it's all in there, and it's not too much to much to fit into one book.  Really.

What this book is, is the culmination of what happens when you write what you love, and just go with the flow.  The story is engaging and witty with a fast-paced flow that keeps you turning pages in eager anticipation of what could possibly come next.  The chapters are all named after song lyrics too, which is an added perk and helps add a dose of brevity to what can sometimes be darer material, and I really appreciated that.  It feels like a lot of humor has been lost from our entertainment lately and even tiny bursts of the ridiculous can make the drama enfolding that much more poignant.  I laughed out loud when I got to Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting since it added a new level of hilarious imagery to an already hectic scene - not to mention getting that song stuck in my head.  Ha!  Now it's stuck in yours too.  You're welcome.

The only thing this book did not have, sadly, was tacos.  That's ok though, I needed a breakfast anyway!  ;)

Relishing the absurd - and cultivating a finer appreciation for Norway

So today I learned an interesting little fact: The Norwegian Army knighted a penguin.

That's right, they knighted this cute little guy:

Sir Nils Olav

Place of birth	Edinburgh Zoo
Allegiance	Norway
Service/branch	Norwegian Army
Years of service	1972 - current
Rank	Colonel-in-Chief & mascot
Unit	Hans Majestet Kongens Garde

Edinburgh Zoo

 Norway

Norwegian Army

1972 - current

Colonel-in-Chief & mascot

Hans Majestet Kongens Garde

His name is Sir Nils Olav. and he's an emperor penguin residing at the Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland.

Here's the Wikipedia article on Sir Nils and how he came to be knighted, you can read all that for yourself: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nils_Olav

What fascinates me so much about this is how delightfully silly it is.  We get so caught up in the seriousness of things that I think a lot of people forget the sheer, unadulterated joy we can get from appreciating the ridiculous.

When does this happen, exactly?  When do we wake up and decide that everything has to be so important?

There is joy in the absurd, the kind you felt when you were five and someone made a fart joke.

So it's sunny and beautiful today.  Go have some fun and enjoy being silly.

And if you see Sir Nils, pop him a smart salute from me ;)

Canada Cures Cancer - world says "meh"

So I was poking about on Reddit a few minutes ago when I saw this:

Scientists find a simple cure for cancer, Big Pharma refuses to get involved because they can't patent it. Why isn't this in the news? 

Naturally, I found this a little intriguing as some of my family members and friends have had cancer in the past.  Plus, it's FRIKKIN' CANCER!!!!!!!

So of course I followed the link to here: http://hubpages.com/hub/Scientists_cure_cancer__but_no_one_takes_notice

The article itself was definitely interesting.  Canadian researchers found a cure to one of the biggest diseases to plague modern society.  A disease, I might add, whose cause  we participate in by way of our lifestyle choices (to a certain degree, I do realize that this isn't always the case/cause).

Of course this is preliminary.  It has passed human trials and been effective.  It just needs a lab to actually produce the drug, which few will do as there is no profit in it.

That thought makes me sad, that as a race we would allow a discovery like this to happen and not do anything about it.  That we would continue to do business with companies that put their bottom line above the well-being of their customers.  When did we get to be so callous?

Oh well, that’s a rant for another afternoon.  One more cloudy.

Yes, I am taking this with a grain of salt, it does sound a little too good to be true, but it's a happy thought for this sunny Friday afternoon.  :)

Picking up the Ladies: Kevin-style

So walking home from the bus last night I had an interesting experience:

This random, scrawny, bearded, bedraggled, rather scraggly older guy who was leaning up against the grocery store suddenly called out "Hey!"

For a second I wasn't sure he was talking to me as it's a fairly busy street but then he called out again while looking right at me,

"Hey there!  

Come over here!  

Come talk to me!  

Come on!  

It's ok!  

I've got beer!  

(he did too, I could see a 6-pack of Ranier tallboys through his plastic grocery bag)

My name's Kevin!  

Boy you sure are purdy!"

He paused between each line smiling goofily with his gap-toothed grin.  He was definitely drunk, and apparently really thought that line would work.

The whole situation was definitely bizarre, but the thing that sticks out the most was the fact that he yelled out "My name's Kevin!" so enthusiastically.  I'm still laughing over it.  (didn't work by the way)

So there's that.

A little absurdity for your Friday!  ;)

Size matters: The trials and tribulations of the modern barbarian

After much speculation on the parts of fans, the trailer for the new Conan movie has finally been released and I have to say, I'm not 100% sure what to think.

I loved the original Conan movies as a kid.  (I have never read the comics, so my opinion is not based on Howard's work).  They were fun, very intense (when you're 8) and full of adventure.  And we all know that Arnold isn't the best of actors, so expecting too much from Jason Momoa is just silly no matter how much we enjoy him on Game of Thrones.

Rose McGowan is in it too, after a failed attempt at starring in the Red Sonja remake - no fault of her own I might add...that's all on Robert Rodriguez.  See if you can actually recognize her in the trailer.

All in all, it looks like it might be an interesting movie.  Epic adventures, magic, mayhem, all the staples of a good fantasy genre film.  There's just this one tiny detail that's bothering me: the sword.

Maybe it's just me, but his sword looks a bit dinky to me.  Like more of a pig-sticker than an actual sword.  It could be because Jason Momoa is so large, but then, so was Arnold, and his sword didn't look puny!  I just imagine him with a broadsword.  Massive and wielded only by those with the strength to heft them (seriously, I had to use one for a stage combat class once and those things are heavy.

Either way, here it is:






Check it out for yourself.

And let me know what you think about the sword!  ;)

Roll a D6

I should probably mention that this isn't really my preferred music choice, but the video is quite hilarious and awesome.

And I seems to recall that I have a game coming up...

Time to break up the Dragon Mage and brush up on some spells!  ;)