I am back at a Motel in Victoria, the commute was killing both me and my car. On the upside, I managed to tear through a large number of books. I recently got through: A history of the Nazi Party (lecture), The search for intelligent life in the universe (lecture), the early writings of Abraham Lincoln (lecture), Eragon (fiction), and Eldest (fiction). I went through a few more, but I cannot remember them at this time.

On the downside, the lack of exercise has been taking a big toll on me. In this picture:

I weigh 220 lbs. That was in June of last year. I have lost 30 lbs. That is what happens when you don’t go to the gym or train at all due to a hellish commute. Sure, losing weight is not something most would complain about, except in my case it has been losing muscle mass and general fitness! However, being at the motel now, I get free passes to the phoenix gym, and I have my running gear and mountain biking gear in Victoria now, so I can start getting back into shape. I am also looking at joining one of the kayaking clubs and getting back into racing.

On the finance front, I have been approved for another mortgage, so it looks like I should have no trouble buying a house in Victoria. Of course, the downside is the huge debt load I am about to take on in doing so. I have to take out an equity loan on my current home (selling it is a very bad idea, it puts me in a horrible tax position) and that changes the terms of my mortgage, and adds a huge amount to the monthly payments. But, I should be able to scrape by and get a place in Victoria by doing this. Still, it is a bit scary. I have already been around to look at houses in the Victoria area, but it seems like it is going to be a challenge to find a place where I can really work the numbers in this market. Still, I should be able to get fairly close to my goals.

Some time ago, I tried to read Ulysses by James Joyce. It started off well, but I had to put it aside once I hit chapter 3. Chapter 3 was totally confusing, and not much fun to read.

Fortunately, I stumbled across the great Teaching Company Course on Ulysses, and decided to give it a try. Now that Professor James A. W. Heffernan has explained what the book is about in a chapter by chapter synopsis, and what you can get out of the book as a whole it makes a great deal more sense.

Now that I understand what Joyce was trying to accomplish with the book, and why each chapter can be so radically different from the last, I find I am able to read the book with ease, and listen to the Audible version easily as well.

The Martello Tower at Sandycove:

Previously, it was just painful, but now it is enjoyable. Having read Homer’s Odyssey helps a great deal as well, as Joyce parallels the book to a small degree, hence the Latin version of name Odysseus. “Ulysses” for the title.

So, having a background in the Odyssey will help you in reading Ulysses, however, you would also want for a good background in English and Irish history, otherwise much of the book may be lost on you. And that is where the Teaching Company course on Ulysses comes in so handy. So, if you have ever had an interest in reading Ulysses, then I suggest you listen to the Teaching Company course on Ulysses first, and then give the book a shot, as you will not be blindsided by the change of writing styles from chapter to chapter, or in some chapters, from paragraph to paragraph!

I stumbled across this link on Amazon, and it made me laugh. Apparently Neville Longbottom is an Amazon user… Pretty funny.

On another note, having read Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince again recently, I am even more convinced that the Avadra Kedavra curse is blockable. And at the very least, that Harry has had the ability to beat Voldemort with Love and Compassion the entire time. I wrote about this before.

The only thing I would say that is different is that I no longer think that Neville kills Voldemort, or Snape or anyone else. The clues to how Harry defeats Voldemort are peppered throughout the series, from Quirrels destruction from skin contact in book 1, to Voldemort being unable to posses Harry at the end of Book 5, the answer is obvious. Snape also demonstrates in book 6 that to cast Avadra Kedavra in book 6 that one must be filled with all-consuming hate. Ergo, the counter curse, and the thing that Voldemort cannot stand, and the power that “he knows not” is Love.

Changing Political Views.

I personally detest being crammed into a political mold where I am called such things as a “Liberal” here in Canada, or a “Democrat” as in the US. While I would categorize myself as having been a “Liberal” once, I have through various readings become exposed to the “Conservative” ideal. Then again, I don’t agree with everything that that view substantiates either. I think that Chris Rock said it best in one of his comedy routines. If you make up your mind on an issue by a political party, before even hearing the issue, you are an idiot. Rock hits the punchline with: “On crime I am conservative, on prostitution I’m liberal.”

And that leaves me with probably no real affiliation at all. If there were one for me (and again, I refuse to support a party, only issues) it would be a Libertarian position. At least that is where I stand as of this post. Who knows, with more information I could change my position. Indeed, I would be a fool if I maintained my position when new information comes along that proves that my position is untenable.

And that brings me to Milton Friedman’s movie, Free To Choose. This is an excellent PBS series from the 1980’s on economics and freedom. The point that I think that Milton makes so well is that economics is about finding out what works - not what you may or may not like. Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner do the same in the currently popular book Freakonomics as well.

Economics, like science can produce conclusions based on data. Simple enough. But what bothers people is that sometimes those conclusions disagree with what they feel to be right, and there is a huge difference between knowing and feeling. Thus, Free to Choose challenges a good deal of assumptions that people have about how the world works, and they don’t want it to work the way that it does. This creates a problem, because despite how much they may want the world to work differently than it does, it keeps on working that way. So, you have a choice, either keep hoping that the world will change, or, you can change and realize how things really work, and work within those constraints. With science and economics, it is not about liking the answer, but understanding that the answer is just the way it is, and you have to interpret how you react to that.

Check out the PBS series Free to Choose, it is very good. Just put your feelings aside and listen to the facts. And if you enjoy it, check out Freakanomics too.

I bought the Sandisk Sansa e140 yesterday, and I like it. I read a number of reviews on the Sansa before considering it for purchase, and most of theme were fairly positive. I chose the Sandisk Sansa e140 over an ipod because for the price, $119.99 Canadian at Costco, it compares favorably in price to an ipod shuffle, but has nearly the features of an ipod nano.

Now, if you compare the Sandisk Sansa to an ipod nano, it won’t fare so well, even if it has an FM tuner, and you can add more flash ram to bring it up to 3 GB, but as I mentioned, in the price range, it kicks the shuffle all over the place. You would be crazy to get a shuffle instead of the Sansa, a 512 MB shuffle is $99, has no screen, no tuner, no upgrades… you get the idea.

The version I had came with version 1.0.003 A, but I found a few quirks, and quickly updated it to version 1.0.010 A with the firmware update from the sandisk website, and the quirks went away.

I quite like the in-ear headphones, as you can lie down and not have to remove them from your ears. The user replaceable AAA battery is a huge bonus over the ipods, and you can get close to 17 hours of playback with an alkaline battery if you don’t use the backlight too much.

It also supports Audible Audio Books, which is great, because that is the primary reason I use an MP3 player. There are a few points of “polish” that this player lacks over the ipods, and it does not possess the “status symbol” image that the ipods do, but I really don’t care, I want it to work, and work it does.

If you don’t care about image, and you just need something inexpensive that works as an MP3 player, I recommend the Sandisk Sansa e140.

Harry Potter and the Last Horcrux?
Book 7 of the Harry Potter series is going to be good. There is little doubt of that. Everyone wants to know the release date of the last Harry Potter book - and nobody yet knows. We do know that the last word in the book is “Scar”.

However, many people have wondered how Harry Potter finally defeats Voldemort. I have a theory that I believe works out. I believe that Harry Potter does not kill Voldemort. It is far more likely that Neville Longbottom finally kills him, or even more likely that Voldemort kills himself.

Here, let me explain.

In Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Dumbledore is constantly showing Harry critical elements of Voldemort’s past. These scenes are structured so that Harry will feel pity for Voldemort. In fact, Dumbledore even makes a comment to this effect.

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Voldemort possesses Harry, but flees his mind when Harry’s mind is filled with Love.

Harry was initially saved from Voldemort by his mothers love - that is the only thing that saved him from the Avadra Kedavra curse. He was the only survivor. The Avadra Kedavra curse is otherwise unblockable.

Therefore, we have Harry being protected by love, banishing Voldemort from his mind with love, and Dumbledore trying to teach Harry to see Voldemort as a person. Why? So Harry can pity him. Truly pity him.

And forgive Voldemort.

Thats right. I said forgive Voldemort. I suspect that Harry Potter either figures out the opposite curse to Avadra Kedavra, that is, some sort of curse that fills one with love - and that blocks the killing curse of hate - or, he manages to hit Voldemort with it.

Then Voldemort experiences all the emotions tied to love. Including Grief. Harry Potter gives Voldemort a conscience, and as a result, Voldemort takes his own life. Either that, or Neville finishes him off, but I strongly suspect that Harry Potter does not kill Voldemort.

He merely teaches Voldemort love, and nothing more.

The glory of the firefox cache and google desktop brings my book reviews back from the cold vacuum of a errant keystroke.

Google Desktop + Firefox Cache = Crazy Delicious
(Obscure internet reference)

In other stuff, I am nearly finished painting. I need some work in the kitchen, and then I can move on to the computer room. Once that is done, I only have the doors and finishings to do. Nice to be nearly complete on that.

—

Wow, did I every clutter up the front page with posts about book reviews or what? :p

This was an interesting listen. I had to take it in bites, and I listened to it while commuting to work, so it took me a little over 2 weeks to consume. There are sections that are long and dry, just like the economists themselves, however, there are also sections that are thoroughly engaging. The sections on modern economists are entertaining enough. However, the sections on Adam Smith, and particularly Karl Marx are the real gems. I can see how many people, particularly those whom are fond of Marx are both distrustful and critical of this book, but Skousen’s depiction of Marx is not one that I have ever heard prior. Indeed, Skousen points out aspects of Marx’s life that supporters of his theories would rather sweep under the rug. It is often pointed out how he lived in squalor while in England and in Soho. His children suffered from severe malnutrition, and his standard of living was appalling. This period lasted about 15 years, and during this time he wrote the small treatise “The Communist Manifesto”. What people fail to point out is that he was one of the Bourgeois prior to spending all his money in an attempt to finance a revolution. He was adulterous, although this has no bearing on his work, that would be an Ad Hominim if it were. And finally, as he wrote the communist manifesto, and lamented that the workers should be taken care of, his children were starving, and suffering. Yet, he was offered work that would have allowed his children to eat, and his standard of living to improve, but he refused on idealistic grounds. He chose the idealistic view over his children. Perhaps that is laudable, but I do not think so. Later on, he invested in the stock market (after writing Kapital, which is rife with economic theory errors) and made a killing, and was once more one of the Bourgeoisie again. I find that quite ironic. This was, in my opinion the strongest part of Skousen’s work. Again, fans of Marx will disagree.

I am not technically finished this work, but I will likely be done by the time anyone reads this post. It is a series of 35 lectures covering, guess what? A history of science from 1700 to 1900. Surprising I know. Gregory is an entertaining speaker, and has a wonderful grasp of the history involved in science, this should be obvious as he has earned his PhD in the subject. But his ability to convey the wonderment and excitement of discoveries in science over this period is paramount here. He manages to really give you a feel for what the society was like at the time the discoveries were made, and the implications that these discoveries had. He does not belittle these people for coming up with incorrect conclusions, indeed, you don’t even know what the incorrect conclusions were in most cases, until he introduces the theories that supplanted the ones he has just described. (Well, unless you have already studied science in detail, and are familiar with the currently accepted modes of thought within science that is.) However, Gregory manages to maintain your attention throughout, even when he does take some apparently irrelevant detours into the history of religion and philosophy at those times, which as he progresses turn out to be perfect relevant to the subject he is discussing. As I only have 2 more lectures in the series to go, I will no doubt finish when I take Daisy out for a walk tonight. And I can see how he is setting the stage for modern physics, and how that leads into Einstein and his theories. However, since Einstein published after 1900, he is not covered in the course. Still a great listen.

I recently finished this work by Bob Brier, and as usual, his teaching style and speaking excellence made for an entertaining listen. His other work “The History of Ancient Egypt” covers most of this course in greater detail, however, he is such a joy to listen to that you cannot help enjoy listening to his descriptions of the most important leaders in Egypt over the course of 3000 years. For an audio college level course, it feels more like you are listening to a good documentary on Egyptian leaders than actually studying. Then again, this is what makes the majority of the Teaching Company Lectures so engaging.