As a fiction author I am rather disturbed by the anti-science trend that appears to be occurring in society. If the real world treads into fictional territory all the time then fiction authors will have to start writing non-fiction. I think we can all agree that science is a good thing and that fiction should remain in the books that we read and movies/TV that we watch.
Adam Savage gave a good speech at the Reason Rally on the weekend, check it out.
In some of my spare time I like to make things out of wood. I’ve already built and filled up one bookcase and am working on finishing a second. I suddenly feel the need to scrap the project and copy Hannah’s fantastic design.
Have to love a TARDIS inspired bookcase!
We all need to take book reviews with a pinch of salt. In this case people seemed surprised to find vampires don’t sparkle.
The internet is filled with guides on how to go vegetarian, and increasingly how to go vegan. Of course the reality of these diet changes is that at some stage vegans and vegetarians are going to have to come back to eating meat, as they discover they lack energy, are anemic and their B12 and calcium levels require them to eat real food.
In an effort to help my malnourished friends before their bones shatter, I thought I would put together this quick guide to becoming an omnivore.
It isn’t as easy as just starting to eat real food again. If it were that easy, vegans would be jumping back on a normal diet all the time. The problem is that the human digestive tract changes so that your body doesn’t starve without meat in the diet. As a result it stops making the digestive enzymes that help you digest meat. Changing back to a meat diet would then mean there is a shortfall in pancreatic secretions required to digest the meat in the short-term. The changed flora in the gut would also be affected. The “sick” feeling is just your body getting used to eating properly again.
Step 1:
Go to your local butcher and purchase meat.
Step 2:
Start off small. The longer you have been unhealthy the smaller the amount of meat you want to start eating to become healthy again. Remember, you are restarting your body, so you need to be consistent and gradual so that you can adapt.
Step 3:
Increase the portion of meat in the diet gradually until you are eating normally again. This will take time, as pointed out. The end goal is to avoid all the problems of not eating meat, so stick at it.
Step 4:
Make sure you are still eating your vegetables, they make a great side dish to meat.
Step 5:
Congratulations on becoming normal again. As an omnivore you are now able to keep up with the kids, won’t have the nutrient deficiencies, will be eating complete protein sources with a good balance of amino acids and will have lowered that osteoporosis risk.
How soon should I make the change to eating meat again?
ASAP.
Will I be healthier as an omnivore?
As long as you eat right (meat+vegetables+fruit+cereals = right) without going all Hurley on the food you will be much healthier.
But I heard meat gives you cancer?
And I heard Elvis is still alive. Most foods contain carcinogens, that’s why you are meant to eat a balanced diet and not get fat. All of the studies that claim you will die of cancer from eating meat are lying, as they forgot to mention you also have to be inactive, fat, not eating vegetables, smoking and drinking like a fish as well.
Will I be sexier eating meat?
There is nothing sexy about salad.
But won’t I be hurting animals?
No. Animals like sheep and cattle have been bred for thousands of years to enjoy being your food. They even try to eat as much garnish as possible to make themselves tastier.
But aren’t animals farting too much for the environment?
Animals fart and burp, that’s natural. Digging up coal, oil and gas to burn for energy is damaging the environment. Plus animals are cuter and friendlier than oil executives.
Double Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Dexter, how I love thee.
It hard to find some reading time these past two weeks. When I did find the time, what better way to spend it than reading a Jeff Lindsay novel.
If there are authors I would like to emulate, Jeff Lindsay and Robert Crais – with their wit, humour and thrilling plots – would be at the top of my list. This outing sees even more of the witty insights into Dexter’s world, my favourite being the final exclamation by Astor, Dexter’s step daughter.
I can’t give this book five stars, because it isn’t as strong as the others in the series. Crunch time hits in the plot about page 200 and is the taut and witty Dexter we know and love. I don’t normally say this about books I read – as I object to it myself – but sticking with this Dexter outing is well worth it.
Also worth mentioning is that Jeff signed my copy of Double Dexter. I asked him about the difference between how Dexter sees himself as “big brained Dexter” and yet exhibits traits that counter this statement. Jeff had some very interesting insights into the psychopath mind that he shared with me on this topic, summarised as “They are never as smart as they think they are.”
Read and enjoy.
As a scientist I am often dismayed at people’s gullibility to believe some of the rubbish that is out there. I find Harry and Paul always cheers me up.
So the big question is, do we try and protect the gullible or just make sure the gullible’s opinions are ignored in public discourse?
Our local bookstore is actually the newsagent, so you have to walk past the magazines to find the book (yes, not pluralized). I can’t figure out why some of these magazines never took off with readers.
A big field, from what I hear.
The contacts and personal pages must get a lot of attention.
I believe this has been renamed to Better Homes and Gardens.
Nothing like hearing about the stuff you missed while you were busying doing something important.
Why are they still allowed to make movies!?
The equestrian edition would be very interesting.
Truth is not usually this simple.
Usually the news does little to inform us, but sometimes it can bring us laughs.
I can’t believe that it was over a week ago that the Perth Writers’ Festival finished. This year was a much bigger and better affair, showing Perth is worth flying to, despite being out-of-the-way, from everything other than Perth. What better time to present a recap of my highlights than now. Warning, this post doesn’t contain my usual sarcasm, satire, humour and insults directed at the author James Patterson.
An entire day on how to get into publishing: sounds like a good idea. One hundred and forty of us were in the comfort of an air-conditioned tent to listen to publishers, manuscript assessors, agents, lawyers, union (yes, Australia Society of Authors, I’d call it a union) and booksellers. Hard to sum up an entire day of information in a few words, so I’ll make some general comments. The industry is still generally a positive field, but don’t give up your day job. There was a lot of talk about the industry having declined – 17.5% in December, 21.5% January, 29.5% to the second week of February – and the usual memes were rolled out (E-books, etc), although it was good to hear some realists talking about overpricing and particular market segments. I got a lot out of the day, like having my need to write poetry stifled for good, with the realisation that Penguin compiled a “best-loved” Australian poetry collection and sold 700 copies. But it has to be said, it is good to see the gender balance in writing, being one of thirty men in the room of one hundred and forty. It is also amazing that, for a group of writers who are supposedly skilled at expressing themselves, there was a lack of ability to orally express opinions and statements (I’m biased, having a background in extension). I’d also like to acknowledge the guy, who is at every writers’ festival, by quoting him “I have a bestseller” with the caveat “not quite finished yet.”
This session was all about writing perspective. Who wants to read an honest character? Every character is lying to themselves about something, creating that flawed and unreliable narrator that people love. Is the writer really lying to the reader by keeping them in suspense? Probably, but I’d like to think of it as telling the truth at a certain pace.
I love sessions that end up, inevitably, discussing censorship. This is topical, given the recent PayPal directive made to Smashwords. My general opinion on censorship was upheld by the presenters and assembled crowd, even if we were having a reading of octopus tentacle bestiality as a prelude to the discussion. An interesting article from the 1930s was read, apparently women at that time had worries about the same body issues they have now.
Combine a respected reporter, a biographer and a politician who actually has something worth saying, and you have the recipe for one statement. Politics has become about distracting the general voting masses with shiny objects. George Megalogenis provided his usual erudite insights, and Andrew Robb proved he is still one of the few politicians worth voting for (Lindsay Tanner having retired).
Book stores are going the way of the literate high school graduate. This session was all about what the future holds for booksellers and how the market will change. Alan Sheardown made some very poignant points about the industry. Running an indie book store he understood what was actually happening with book sales and how to keep the customers. I also became a Kobo fan after hearing Malcolm Neil’s thoughts and comments. There have already been rumours starting about Kobo being the other e-book market after Amazon, after this session I have little doubt. Malcolm didn’t pull any punches.
All I really have to say about this session is that Western Australian authors are alive and well, especially in crime fiction. Keep an eye out for us, we’re awesome!
Not Everyone Gets to Eat Like We Do
As much as I love intellectual discussion, I really do wish more intellectuals would give some credit to agriculture. Tim Costello, David Rieff, Tom Keneally, Katie Smith Milway and Carmen Lawrence spent this session discussing various aspects of the food demands of the world. Unfortunately, Katie was the only one that had any agricultural knowledge. Despite this, the discussion made some good points about the need for a shift in government focus and how poorer nations need support, not handouts.
The Saturday morning writing seminar was not actually for dummies. Felicity Young took us through a few activities, including a group plotting exercise. Our group killed off Jo Nesbo with a hardcover edition of his first novel, Redbreast. His body was discovered by one of the class after the white peacock on the grounds was seen covered in blood – Redbreast: we were hilarious! I think the team has a bestseller in the works after this session.
Lauren Beukes needs to give up coffee. She destroyed her laptop prior to the writing workshop. I know that computers always say coffee resistant on the label, but I bet they only test it on espressos. Lauren took us through a few different exercises and examples of good and bad prose. She also gave me some good feedback on my writing, so I feel like I’m on the right track.
A Glass of Wine and a Good Book
David Whish-Wilson interviewed Felicity Young whilst the audience relaxed with a lovely wine or three. David ran the workshop I attended on writing last year, so it was two of my writing tutors in one session. It was a good discussion, but the wine was even better. Check out Lamont’s winery, their white was the perfect end to the day.
Take one international bestselling crime novelist, known for his talent and wit, not to mention a former career as a successful musician, and you should have a great evening. Pity the interviewer wasn’t up to the challenge. Either way, I got my novels signed by Jo. I remember having heard of Jo Nesbo as a result of his awards for crime writing. You would think that stores would stock his books as a result, but they didn’t. I ended up ordering Nemesis online (Booktopia rocks) only to find all of his novels in an indie store a week later. Another reason the big stores are dying.
I Believe In An Open Mind – But Not So Open My Brain Falls Out
If I had one highlight of the festival it has to be this Sunday session. The speakers were Misha Ketchell, Stephen Lewandowsky, Alom Shaha and James Paterson, and had a hearty discussion about science, communication, the media, think tanks (of which James is an editor of the notorious IPA) and climate change. Alom was someone I hadn’t heard of before and it was great to hear his contributions. It was also great to meet Stephen and Misha in person after the session.
This was the second session I went to with Jo Nesbo featuring. This time he was joined by Johan Harstad, and a decent interviewer, Mark Naglazas. The discussion was around how fantastic the Scandinavians are at converting oil wealth into societal wealth, which trickles down into supporting the arts. Both authors had interesting things to say and Mark got the best out of them.
The media are a funny bunch. It was only in the previous day that George Megalogenis was discussing how poor a job the media did, yet this session was all back-patting. I admire the journalists that take the time to really dig their teeth into a story, do the hard yards and learn about their subject. There will have to be more of it in the future, well, unless we just want to know celebrity gossip.
Congratulations to the organisers for putting together a great event. I look forward to next year’s event.
Raylan by Elmore Leonard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Raylan: “What did he want to know?”
Art: “Whether you’d shot anybody this week.”
I remember reading Elmore’s rules of writing and fixing upon his rule “leave out the stuff people skip”. This novel is a testament to that rule; there is nothing you want to skip in it. This is one of those books that feels like you are immersed in a world, something that Elmore has been widely praised for.
This novel, Raylan, is not really a novel. Think of this work as three novellas held together with some overlap, like, say, a TV series. I think it is fair to say that you can see entire plot and character arcs from seasons two and three of Justified in this book. Clearly this isn’t a coincidence, with Elmore joining the writing team for Justified in the second season.
Far from being a criticism, the similarities between Raylan and Justified actually makes this book a cool compendium companion to the series. Just be warned, Boyd is not quite the devious and intelligent character you want to see succeed, as you do in Justified.
For fans of Justified, you will no doubt have your Morgan Freeman and Sean Connery moment, as you read all of the book with the character’s voices.
Raise your hand if you actually read more than one book a year. Ever wonder about every reader out there? Well, some good folks did a survey to find out about us readers.
Parallax by Jon F. Merz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The paranormal is an interesting genre for me. As some of you may have guessed, I’m a scientist and skeptic. Basically this means I want evidence of claims, not some beliefs and suppositions. Prove it to me.
When it comes to entertainment, the assumption would be that anything other than realistic fiction is not going to grab me. The key word here is fiction. Just as Lt. Shane Shcofield’s adventures are as realistic as Abraham Lincoln being a vampire hunter, the paranormal can be just as entertaining to this scientist and skeptic.
This is the second of Jon’s books that I have read. Parallax was a very entertaining read that reminded me of some of the earlier paranormal works I read that combined the paranormal with the crime or noir genres. This novel works as a straight crime story, the mental link between the two main protagonists serving as a twist on the formula.
Worth checking out if you like a tale about hitmen having to redeem themselves.
Edited by Dr Sonja Boehmer-Christiansen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
There are a lot of publications out there that specialize in short fiction. One that has stood tall amongst the Science Fiction community is the publication Energy & Environment. Published 8 times per year, this periodical prides itself on its consistent quality of short stories. It has become a renowned publication in the sci-fi community, with contributing authors often writing about an alternate reality universe, where the rules of physics do not apply.
Luminaries of the Science Fiction community have been known to publish stories in E&E, notable examples include: Dr Willie Soon, Prof Bob Carter, Prof Ian Plimer, Dr Tim Curtin, Prof Richard Lindzen, Dr Roger Pielke Sr; a veritable who’s who of the Science Fiction world. Energy & Environment attract such great writers because of the favourable editorial standards, allowing startling new sub-genres of Science Fiction to emerge. Some of the most revered works of Science Fiction have been published in Energy and Environment in the last decade as a result of the publication’s regard in the sci-fi community.
Energy & Environment is often regarded as hard sci-fi, due to its heavy use of figures and tables within the stories. These illustrations help to conjure up a vivid impression of the wonderfully weird worlds the stories are based in. Having a science background, these elements of hard sci-fi were an entertaining aside, but most sci-fi fans would be able to enjoy the fictional universes without having to take them in.
Contributors are also known to win the prestigious Heartland Institute award. This is a notable Science Fiction award given by the Heartland Institute to encourage sci-fi writers to continue their work. The award comes with a cash stipend, generously given by Heartland funders such as Exxon. A notable Australian sci-fi author, Bob Carter, is a current recipient of the award, the $1600 a month stipend helping him write sci-fi stories full-time.
If you are looking for funny, entertaining and challenging Science Fiction, then Energy & Environment has a story for you.
From comedian John Branyan (@jbranyancomedy).
There was something on the TV last night, I think it was a moth attracted to the bright screen. Fortunately the ‘moth’ flapping around didn’t distract me from someone talking about being your best. Best? There is always the question of ability and effort. No one would doubt that effort is involved in achieving something, but some people have to work really hard just to be average, just visit any shopping mall for confirmation. And what if you are lazy, are you aiming too high in your career? My inner science nerd sent me to Google Scholar to find out what various people can achieve.
Average adult IQs associated with real-life accomplishments:
MDs or PhDs (postgraduates) 125
College graduates 115
1–3 years of college 105-110
Clerical and sales workers 100-105
High school graduates, skilled workers (e.g., electricians, cabinetmakers) 100
1–3 years of high school (completed 9–11 years of school) 95
Semi-skilled workers (e.g., truck drivers, factory workers) 90-95
Elementary school graduates (completed eighth grade) 90
Elementary school dropouts (completed 0–7 years of school) 80-85
Average IQ of various occupational groups:
Professional and technical 112
Managers and administrators 104
Clerical workers; sales workers; skilled workers, craftsmen, and foremen 101
Semi-skilled workers (operatives, service workers, including private household; farmers and farm managers) 92
Type of work that can be accomplished:
Adults can harvest vegetables, repair furniture 60
Adults can do domestic work, simple carpentry 50
There is considerable variation within and overlap between these categories. People with high IQs are found at all levels of education and occupational categories. The biggest difference occurs for low IQs with only an occasional college graduate or professional scoring below 90.
So there you go, now you know just how hard you have to work. And just remember, in a democracy the vote of the highly educated is given the same value as those who think mowing a lawn is mentally challenging.
Tyson Adams 