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The Rules of Attraction

The Rules of Attraction

by Bret Easton Ellis

$11.16 at Amazon.com

There was a movie version a few years ago, starring Dawson's Creek heart-throb James van der Beek.  A pretty good movie version, if memory serves, and an outstanding example of how even a good movie can't compare with a book. There's a lot more hedonism in the novel version.

Bret Easton Ellis writes grisly tales of modern alienation, usually set like this one, among rich people in the 1980s. Rules of Attraction takes place at an expensive, private, Northeastern college campus. The story takes place among 

the college kids, who seem to spend very little time going to classes or studying.

Most of them have been over-indulged, and grown bored with everything around them. There's loads of drugs, wild parties, and frequent, empty sex. The characters spend a lot of time plotting and lying to one another, and the novel's written in non-linear time (it jumps around between the past and present) which fills it with plot-twisting surprises.

The main character, Sean, spends his days getting high and inventing lies to get unwitting girls to go to bed with him. Considering he 

spends all his time in the pursuit of pleasure, he seems dreadfully unfulfilled. 

There's a love affair, if you can call it that. It's interesting how years of self-indulgence have affected Sean's ability to even experience emotions like love. He majors in Ceramics and talks about Ginsberg with classmates over mountains of grass. It's a charmed life.

I've read most of Ellis' books, and consider him one of the best writers of his generation. His characters create an interesting paradox: they have a joyless existence, yet (if you're like me) the things they're doing all seem 

like a lot of fun. To be young, attractive, and have lots of money to throw around just has to be fulfilling, doesn't it?

The chapters jump back and forth between the perspectives of different characters, which can be distracting at first. It's fairly post-modern, to less-experienced readers this may seem confusing. Just relax.

Overall, the Rules of Attraction is a fun ride. It's an especially good choice this time of year, if you are someone who finds holiday pageantry a bore.

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The Elements

I've decided to continue to posts on chemistry, if only because I like them. They also lend themselves to a lot of pretty pictures. Anything which creates pretty pictures is golden on the internet.

Consider the following...

Sulfur:

Atomic Symbol: S

Atomic Number: 16

Almost anything that smells awful contains sulfur. Rotten eggs smell terrible because they contain hydrogen sulfide. Skunk odor is a mixture of three sulfur compounds, all of them noxious.

Sulfur is mentioned 15 times in the Bible, and was best known for destroying the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. It was also known to the ancient Greeks, and appears in Homer's Odyssey. Small doses have been prescribed as a laxative for over 3000 years, which works because it acts as an irritant in the intestines.

Sulfur is found in some meteorites and there appears to be a deposit on the surface of the Moon. Io, one of the moons of Jupiter, is covered in sulfur spewed from its active volcanoes. It has been suggested that sulfur-using bacteria might live there, similar to types which survive in sulfur-rich environments on Earth.

Chlorine:

Atomic Symbol: Cl

Atomic Number: 17

Its ion Chlorde (Cl^-) is essential to many species, including humans. The element itself, Chlorine gas, is very toxic, as its use as a weapon in World War I showed. Chlorine was first used as a weapon on 22 April, 1915. The German army released the gas from hundreds of cylinders, and the breeze carried the gas across no-man's land and into the British trenches. 5000 men died in agony, and 15000 were disabled by it. The threat was eventually countered by issuing gas masks.

The chlorination of drinking water has been common practice for almost a century. It virtually eliminates water-borne illnesses such as typhoid, cholera, and meningitis which were once common in overcrowded cities. Chlorination is cheap, safe, and effective at ridding water of disease pathogens.

Argon:

Atomic Symbol: Ar

Atomic Number: 18

Argon is one of a group of elements called the noble gases. Like them, it is an odorless, colorless gas; but unlike most of them, it is not rare. Roughly 1% of the atmosphere is composed of argon. Argon was first isolated in 1785 London, by the eccentric millionaire Henry Cavendish, who had a private laboratory. Perplexed by this small portion of the air which would not react chemically, he did not realize that it was a gaseous element, nor was he able to identify it using the primitive techniques of his day. The element remained "undiscovered" until 1904, by the winners of the Nobel prizes for chemistry and physics.

Argon turned out to be not as inert as had always been assumed. In August 2000, scientists at the University of Helsinki, Finland created the first ever compound of argon. Don't expect to see it turning up at the mall, though: this highly unstable substance had to be created and stored at temperatures under -265 ^oC.

My previous posts on chemistry are here.

Do you want to know more? Then check out Nature's Building Blocks, by John Emsley

Eye Candy

A View of the Ocean

A View of the Ocean 

by Jan de Hartog

$12.21 at Amazon.com

ISBN: 978-0375424700

Before I begin reviewing A View of the Ocean, let me say that it is not like most of the books you'll see here at Hansisgreat. 

Usually I try to find books which are pleasant and diverting. This one is very heavy and very sad. If you're looking for something to read on an airplane, look elsewhere!

It's an autobiography which focuses on the author's periods of grieving and loss. The dust jacket describes it as an "inspirational memoir".

Here's a run-down on the author: Jan grew up in the Netherlands. During World War II he was a secret courier for the British Navy, and helped Jewish babies escape from Nazi occupied Holland. His 1940 

novel, Holland's Glorie, is considered a national treasure by the Dutch, because it symbolized their resistance to German occupation.

I did not know any of this when I began A View of the Ocean. It interested me because the story concerns the death of his mother, and his conversion to the Quaker religion. Coincidentally, my own mother died a year and a half ago, and I also became a Quaker around the same time. 

Weird.

I never rescued any babies, though.

Anyway, this is a sensitive and beautiful memoir about the deaths of 

the author's parents. No, they weren't killed because of the war, they both died the "normal" way: of sickness and old age. There's very little action: just a few short scenes from his childhood along with the story of how his parents met. Jan's father means well but is a bit heavy-handed. He's a clergyman with what our era would call an idiosyncratic, almost Victorian personality. For example, during Jan's boyhood, his father would bring the following items along each time the family went on vacation:

- a hip bath

-a tea service

-his own silverware

-three footlockers full of books

-a plaster bust of the philosopher Schopenhauer

Jan's deepest affection, naturally, is for his mother, whose death brings an unexpected 

spiritual twist to the end of the story. When Jan donates some of his late mother's books, he comes in contact with a group of Dutch Quakers, who provide him with hope during his time of loss.

There's truly not much of a story here. This book struck a chord with me for deeply personal reasons. It's not something you'll want to read for leisure, but if you've lost a close loved one it may offer you some comfort. It promises a rational possibility of an afterlife, which by itself makes it worth checking out. 

Additionally, those not too familiar with the Quaker religion may learn a few things about it that are interesting. The only other 

reason one might want to read it would be if they were Dutch. Mostly, it's for people who are grieving.

Unless they die young, most people experience the deaths of their parents. I found it was one of the least enjoyable parts of life, but there's no avoiding it. I'm sorry if all this is a bit depressing for a website featuring shirtless men.

I only mention it because, if this book is what you're looking for, then it's important for you to know that it's out there.

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Constellations

Since ancient times, people have tried to find patterns in the stars. Some groups are so distinctive that they have been recognized for as long as 20,000 years!Today 88 constellations are recognized by the western world. Here are three which are currently visible in the northern hemisphere. If you can get away from bright city lights and find a clear night, see if you can spot these four. We'll start with an easy one...

Orion:

Probably the easiest winter constellation to spot, because of the three bright stars in a straight line that make up his belt, Orion is my favorite constellation. It features two of the brightest (first magnitude, star brightness is measured by magnitude) stars in the heavens, Rigel and Betelgeuse. If you follow the line of Orion's belt past Alnitak, you can find Sirius, the Dog Star, the brightest star in the sky. In fact, November's sky is filled with very bright stars.

Just below the center star in Orion's belt is the Orion nebula, one of only two nebulas bright enough to be seen without a telescope. Orion first appears in September, but is now visible well above the horizon by midnight.

Taurus:

An easy way to find this one is to remember that Orion chases Taurus the bull. In fact, people have thought this group of stars looked like a bull since earliest recorded history. Many scientists believe that Stone Age cave paintings in Lascaux, France depict this constellation. It's currently visible just above the horizon, but will rise high in the sky throughout  the winter. Look for Taurus' glowing red eye, the star Aldebaran, in the middle of his face.

Pegasus:

Now almost directly overhead, the great square that makes up the center of Pegasus surrounds a large portion of the midnight sky. This patch of sky is also important because it contains the Andromeda Galaxy, our closest galactic neighbor, only 2.5 million light years away from our own.

The constellation only represents the front half of the legendary winged horse for which it's named. Pegasus in myth was the son of Medusa, the hideously ugly gorgon, whose look could turn men to stone.

Ursa Major:

Probably the most recognized constellation, the Big Dipper is now visible just above the Northern horizon. Originally called "the Great Bear", because the bowl of the dipper resembles a saddle on a bear's back. Above Ursa Major is Ursa Minor, the Little Dipper which contains Polaris, the North Star. 

If you have good vision on a clear night, the middle star in the handle of the Big Dipper appears to flicker. This is because it's actually a binary star, a group of two stars: Mizar and Alcor. 

If you'd like to see my previous posts on astronomy click here.

There's an outstanding book with lots of beautiful, glossy pictures called Astronomy: A Visual Guide, by Mark A. Garlick. Consider it as a holiday gift for a loved one. Buying this or other fine products by traveling through this site to Amazon.com helps support Hansisgreat.

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Salt: A World History

Salt: A World History, by Mark Kurlansky

$10.88 at Amazon.com

ISBN: 0142001619

This is a fascinating work of non-fiction that reads as easily as a novel. It visits dozens of cultures around the world and through time, yet somehow never gets too bogged down in details or becomes tiresome. It was quite popular a few years ago, but I'm posting on it today in case some of you missed the craze.

Salt has been necessary for human civilization since prehistoric man began herding animals (animals need salt licks to live in captivity). In all ages, salt has been invested with a significance far exceeding its natural properties. Homer called it a divine substance, and

Plato claimed it was eaten by the gods.

Salt has been considered a miracle drug, an aphrodisiac, and a magical talisman. It has had, literally, thousands of uses for billions of people.

Our story begins in ancient China, where salt is used to make pickled vegetables, a food staple. Soon it is also used to cure meat, the only way to store it before the invention of refrigeration. In Egypt it is quickly used to preserve decomposing corpses; Natron salt is an essential ingredient

in their famous mummies.

To the Romans, salt was a necessary part of empire building, and it is to them that we owe the tradition of putting a salt-shaker on the dinner table. At times, soldiers were even paid in salt, which was the origin of the word salary and the expression "worth his salt". Jesus famously described his followers as "the salt of the earth".

In the New World, salt plays a surprising role in the Revolutionary

War and the early history of the United States. Demand for the mineral motivated the founding fathers to build the Erie Canal, allowing its cheap transport from the town of Salinas to New York for sale and export. The prosperity created by the canal brought stability to the young nation and expanded its culture inland, from the coast to the Great Lakes.

My favorite chapter involves a visit to the Dead Sea, arguably the most unusual body of water on Earth because its high salt content

has made the water thick and oily. Almost anything can float on the Dead Sea. Its proximity to Jerusalem and other holy sites makes it a key player, geographically.

We learn a lot about the process of salt production, but Kurlansky keeps the science manageable and easy to follow. This is a very interesting and creative book, fun to read, and impressive for turning a seemingly mundane topic into an epic spanning centuries and continents.

Check this one out. It's fast-paced, fun, and truly educational.

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The History of Civilization

Chapter Six: The Ancient Hebrews

Whether we call it Israel, Canaan, or Palestine, the land of the ancient Hebrews was doomed by its lack of geographical unity to be the meeting-place and battlefield of great empires. It was only, therefore, for brief periods, and in precarious fashion, that Israel became its own master, enjoying political independence and power.

The first Hebrews were probably not a homogeneous group, but of extremely mixed race. Abraham, the nation's legendary founder, came to be regarded as a figure of overwhelming religious significance, the first man to renounce idolatry and recognize one God.

By 1900 BC, large groups of Semitic people had moved into Egypt. Hebrew writers who reported being enslaved in Egypt are unlikely to have made it all up. People do not invent stories of their ancestors' shameful and dishonorable foreign servitude out of nothing at all.

Around 1200 BC, the Hebrews began escaping from slavery in Egypt. No archaeological records of the exodus exist, even in Egyptian monuments, probably because the Egyptian Hebrews numbered at most a few thousand. Their flight, apparently, caused no great concern in Egypt. This original kernel grew, and established an independent kingdom in nearby Canaan. To what extent the Canaanites influenced the culture of their conquerors is widely disputed.

With the accession of Saul, the first Israelite king, about 1020 BC, the Israelites became truly united as a political entity. With David, Saul's successor, the kingdom acquired greatness. He captured Jerusalem, the strongest fortress in the region, and made it his capital. At his death, all the countries surrounding the Israelite Kingdom were either subjugated or bound by treaties of friendship.

David's son and successor, Solomon, is known as the builder of the Temple of Jerusalem, which became a symbol of Israelite glory and splendor. Alas, it didn't last: the next two centuries became a series of struggles against petty states, followed by conquest by the late Bronze Age's superpowers. Northern Israel was conquered by the mighty and ravenous Assyrian Empire, while the South held out a few more years before being conquered by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The entire region was then captured by Alexander the Great, and finally, by Rome.

Although her political systems didn't endure, there is no doubt that the most outstanding contribution of the ancient Hebrews was the exquisite religion of the Jews.

Most people at this time worshipped some kind of idol. When their town was defeated and the idol destroyed, their religion ceased to exist. Contrariwise, the God of the Jews was far more abstract, and followed his worshippers wherever he went.

Pagan religions also offer no moral code, and generally do not deal with what we would call "the Big Questions". Through Moses, God brought the Ten Commandments which would serve as the basis for three great religious traditions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). Pointless local superstitions and bloody animal sacrifices would soon be replaced with notions of justice, universal brotherhood, forgiveness, and peace.

The story so far... My previous posts on civilization are here.

There's an excellent book on The History of Ancient Israel, by Michael Grant. It's a bit scholarly, but runs the full gamut.

Eye Candy

Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs

Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, by Chuck Klosterman
$11.20 at Amazon.com
ISBN: 978-0-7432-3601-0
Like me, Klosterman is a jaded, cynical member of Generation X. The subject of his book is pop-culture, and he runs the entire gamut from the internet, tv, magazines, video games, sports, and even breakfast foods. The entire book is incredibly entertaining; what's more, it's surprisingly insightful.
Most of the subjects he touches on should be familiar to Americans born 1961-1981. If you're a fan of American pop, this book is a must.There are some delightful chapters on mindless American tv shows: MTV's the Real World gets a chapter of its own. So does Saved By The Bell, a Saturday morning high-school drama in which the scheming Zach Morris outwits his parents and principal in every episode. It was a mediocre show by any standards, but was broadcast four times a day for many years. As a result, many people my age have stronger memories of Saved by the Bell than our actual, existing high school class.
There's an outrageous chapter on the Sims video game. Many players spent days and weeks developing Sim-characters whose lives were more rewarding than their own. Klosterman plays the Sims for 72 straight hours, trying unsuccessfully to seduce a female character named Bella. SimChuck, he says, remains denied.
In the game, the goal was to make friends, increase one's skills, and fill one's home with mountains of products. Was it mostly a glorification of consumerism that suggests happiness can only be found at the mall?
Consumerism is a constant theme. The Cocoa Puffs in the title derive from a chapter on kids' cereal commercials. He points out that in many childhood cereal commercials, the premise was that the product was so delicious that a fictional character would actually try to steal it. The Trix Rabbit is a tragic figure condemned never to consume a single bowl of the food he craves, while Sonny the C-Puffs Cuckoo will do anything to escape the torment of withdrawal while children taunt him as if he were a street junkie.
Many of the great movies of my youth are mentioned: Star Wars is compared and contrasted with Reality Bites. "What is Reality?" forms the basis for a string of films like the Matrix, Memento, Fight Club, Donnie Darko, and a host of other Gen-Xer hits.
He has some very interesting observations on internet porn. Pornography may not have been good for the advancement of society, but it's done wonders for the advancement of computer technology.
Of course all the books at Hansisgreat are recommended, but this one really gets an A+. Klosterman is incredibly funny, and I never realized how heavily influenced by pop culture my life has been until I read it here. In my mind I kept thinking, "yeah, it was just like that for me, too."
First class work, Chuck!

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Quotations

Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.

William Jennings Bryan (1960 - 1925)

Perpetual devotion to what man calls his business, is only to be sustained by perpetual neglect of many other things.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894)

It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.

William Blake (1757 - 1827)

After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.

Aldous Huxley (1894 - 1963)

Young people are in a condition like permanent intoxication, because youth is sweet and they are growing.

Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)

First love is a kind of vaccination which saves a man from catching the complaint a second time.

Honore de Balzac (1799 - 1850)

One word frees us from all the weight and pain of life: That word is love.

Sophocles (496 BC - 406 BC)

Do I contradict myself?

Very well then I contradict myself,

(I am large, I contain multitudes)

Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)

Eye Candy

Down and Dirty

Down and Dirty, by Sandra Hill

$7.99 at Amazon.com

ISBN: 978-0-425-21793-1

Yes, Hans is reviewing a romance novel. 

Like science fiction (which I also enjoy), romance can be fun to read once in a while. I skimmed dozens of novels in the romance section of my local Barnes & Noble before finally settling on this one, which is quite good.

The hero is US Navy SEAL Zach "Pretty Boy" Floyd.

He's a bit of a macho hot-shot. While on a tour of duty in Afghanistan, he unwittingly fathers a precocious young boy named Sammy, whom he brings with him back to the states.

 Sammy is a delightful little scamp who causes one headache after another for Zach. Their exchanges are very funny, and kept the story upbeat. 

You don't see enough comedy in romance novels.

As punishment for his indiscretion, Zach is re-assigned to train female soldiers. It is here that he meets Britta, our leading lady.

She is a Viking warrior. Think Xena, warrior princess. After being condemned to spend the rest of her life in a convent, she escapes 

and somehow winds up traveling to the 21st century. How this happens is a little sketchy. The details about the time-travel are not important.

What's important is, Britta is 1000 years away from her own time, and yet still can see right through Zach's playboy crap. And she's used to medieval combat, so she's a born soldier in our time. Just what a swaggering jock like Zach needs.

What surprised me the most was how much military action there is: the parts about Britta's SEAL training were really interesting. Think GI Jane!

Alongside there are a few steamy, sexual scenes, but it's never smutty. Just the right amount.

Overall, I've got to give Sandra Hill credit. The story is engaging, and the characters had remarkable chemistry.  Down and Dirty is full of depth, humor, and excitement.

This isn't just a good dime-store romance novel. This is good fiction.

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Dinosaurs

As carnivorous dinosaurs began to grow larger, faster, and became more adept at hunting, their prey began to develop defensive measures of their own. Here are three examples of the Thyreophora class: dinosaurs that developed thick armor to defend themselves from attack. They're huge, lumbering, slow-moving creatures which resemble modern cows. Unlike cows, these beasts could crush or impale with a swing of their heavy back or a swish of their tail.

Stegosaurus:

This is the most familiar of the Stegosauria, a group of dinosaurs that were characterized by a series of bony plates and spines extending along their backs. It could reach up to 30 feet (9 M) in length and weighed up to 2 tons. The impressive plates vary in size, with the largest just above the hip.

The plates were thin and blunt and would have offered little protection against an attack by a large meat-eater. They may have been used for warning off predators, or for recognition between members of a species. The heavy legs, curved back, and massive size suggest it was not capable of a quick getaway when under attack. Stegosaurus' best defense was probably to swing its powerful, spike-covered tail. In fact, scientists think Stegosaurus might have had a nerve bundle, or "second brain" in the tail, responsible for controlling reflexes in the rear portion of the body.

Ankylosaurus:

Spreading across the northern hemisphere alongside the great meat-eaters such as Tyrannosaurus Rex, the slow-moving Ankylosaurus would need heavy armor to protect themselves against such hunters. The armor consists of ovals of embedded bone supporting spiky horns. At the end of its tail was a bony club. There are no teeth at the front of the mouth, just a broad beak.

The Ankylosaurus' armor-covered head was very thick and often fossilized. As a result, the brain cavity is quite well known. The most highly developed part of the brain was for the sense of smell. It also had a maze of complicated nasal passages, which suggests this may have been the primary sense on which it relied.

Euoplocephalus:

From the same family as Ankylosaurus, this is one of the dinosaurs best known to science. There are more than 40 specimens known, including 15 skulls. It actually had armor-plated eyelids!

The back is covered with heavy, bony spikes fixed in leathery armor. At the end of the tail there was a heavy, spike-covered club used for defense, and possibly for occasional fights with other members of the species.

Occasional, because Euoplocephalus has never been found in groups, suggesting it was a solitary forager. The forelegs were used for digging roots and buried stems.

I post on dinos because they have universal interest. For yourself or as holidays gifts, check out National Geographic Dinosaurs, by Paul Barrett; and The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs, by Dougal Dixon.

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The Brief History of the Dead

The Brief History of the Dead, by Kevin Brockmeier

$11.16 at Amazon.com

ISBN: 978-1-4000-9595-7

This is a dark, thrilling, surrealistic new novel. Most of the action takes place in the Afterlife, in what the inhabitants call the City of the Dead.

The dead are divided into two classes: the sasha, and the zamani. The recently departed whose time on earth overlapped with people still here are the sasha, still alive in the memory of the living. When the last person to know an ancestor dies, that ancestor leaves the sasha for the zamani, the dead.

Our story unfolds among the sasha. The vast majority of their number suddenly begin disappearing. Many thousands arrive and then depart just as mysteriously as they came. It's obvious to everyone in the City of the Dead that this phenomenon has something to do with what's happening in the living world. No one knows what exactly.

Rumors begin to spread, news of the living world from the recently deceased of a great war on Earth. Millions die of a virus created in 

germ-warfare labs, a disease called "the Blinks", a rapidly progressing illness that begins with an itching behind the eyes.

Brockmeier creates a weird picture of the afterlife. 

Many seem to find meaning in death that they lacked in life, reuniting with lost loved one with varying degrees of success. They quickly adapt to an existence without hearts beating or lungs filling with oxygen.

Characters come and go very rapidly: society is sort of a swirling mass. One central character is Laura, a young scientist in Antarctica 

who is one of the last people alive on Earth, locked in a desperate battle for survival. 

While she crosses the forbidding Ross Ice Shelf she has no idea what awaits her back home in America, or in the Great Beyond.

Kudos to Kevin Brockmeier for creating such an imaginative story and setting. I stayed glued to the page from the first chapter right up to the surprise ending. The Brief History of the Dead is enjoyable, thought-provoking, and truly original.

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The Elements

You're in luck! This evening I'm posting on three of the most interesting elements! In fact, these are three of my favorites.

For a while I've been considering quitting these posts on chemistry. They might be a bit too nerdy for a blog this cool. What I decided to do was continue them until I got as far as Phosphorus, then take stock and decide either to continue or give it up.

So what do you think? Do you like the chemistry posts? The history ones? Any of them? Or are you just here for the pictures of guys?

Now, on to the atoms!

Aluminum:

Atomic Symbol: Al

Atomic Number: 13

Analysis of a curious metal ornament removed from a third century tomb in China showed that it was 85% aluminum. How it was produced remains a mystery.

By the end of the eighteenth century, bauxite (aluminum ore) was known to contain metal, but no one knew how to extract it. In 1825, Hans Christian Oersted was the first to succeed, but the sample he produced was impure. In the 1860s the Emperor Napoleon III of France impressed visiting royals with special dinnerware made of the metal.

Coincidentally, two scientists discovered how to make aluminum using an electric current at the same time! 21 year-old Charles M. Hall of Ohio and 23 year-old Paul-Louis-Toussaint Heroult of France had never met, but made the same discovery simultaneously April 23, 1886.

As a result of the Hall-Heroult process, the price of aluminum fell until it cost less than one-thousandth of what it had been for Napoleon III.

Silicon:

Atomic Symbol: Si

Atomic Number: 14

The Earth's crust is composed mostly of silicon compounds, called silicates.

It is surprising that silicon aroused little curiosity among early chemists, considering its abundance. Sand can be found in all parts of the world and is used for many purposes, as well as being the source of commercially produced silicon. It is the basis of several industries. The construction industries rely on sand and cement, glass manufacture is based on sand.

Silicon-oxygen compounds called silicones were invented in the 1920s and are used in many modern products: as industrial putty, high heat lubricants, waterproof sealants, and breast implants. Many silicone oils are used in shampoos and hair conditioners: they not only act as a protective layer, but they leave skin and hair feeling silky smooth.

Phosphorus:

Atomic Symbol: P

Atomic Number: 15

In the form in which it is best known, "white phosphorus", this element is flammable and a deadly poison. As little as 100 mg may be fatal to humans.

In the natural world, it is never encountered as such, only as phosphate. Phosphate is essential to all living things, and is a component of DNA itself.

Chemical phosphorus was discovered in 1669 by evaporating urine and heating the residue until it was red-hot. Its inventor, Hennig Brandt, kept the process secret for many years, thinking he might have discovered the fabled "philosopher's stone" which could turn base metals into gold.

The eighteenth-century invention of the phosphorus match caused demand for the element to skyrocket. It was used in the wars of the twentieth-century  because of the terrible wounds that burning phosphorus produced. The scattering of phosphorus fire bombs over cities in World War II caused widespread terror and destruction.

If you're interested, my previous posts on chemistry are here.

There's an outstanding author named John Emsley who wrote two books I highly recommend:

Nature's Building Blocks: An A-Z Guide to the Elements

and

The 13th Element: The Sordid Tale of Murder, Fire, and Phosphorus

Eye Candy

Getting Off

Getting Off: (Pornography and the End of Masculinity), by Robert Jensen

$9.60 at Amazon.com

ISBN: 978-0-89608-776-7

There are a lot of books out there on porn: it's a very hot topic right now. I notice most of them are written by women (not a bad thing, just something I noticed). This one is by a man, and he takes a moderate stance on the porn debate.

Jensen argues that porn, as it exists in our culture, is bad for men. It's constantly available to us, keeps getting more hardcore, and eventually creates fantasies which can never be fulfilled.

We're talking mostly about heterosexual porn here, obviously. Most people are heterosexual.

He brings up an interesting question in the beginning of this book: Why is there so much porn in which women are in pain or degraded in some way? It's fun for men to watch because the man is in control. This reinforces the ideology in men's minds that all women are whores.

Porn can also be an important factor in shaping a male-dominant view of sexuality, and contribute to a user's difficulty in separating sexual fantasy and reality.

I'm not sure I buy everything Jensen says 100%, but he's brought up a key point that we have here at Hansisgreat. It can't just keep getting dirtier and dirtier on to infinity! We're already becoming jaded by porn because there's so much of it out there. We can see anyone doing anything, sexually speaking, with an Internet connection and a credit card. Where is it ever going to stop? It doesn't have to be so mindless.

He clearly did his homework creating this fine piece of investigative journalism. It's very honest and thorough. He interviews all kinds of interesting people who work in the business.

Everyone has a sexuality (even celibacy is a choice) so the topic of Getting Off should be of universal interest.

Don't expect any book to completely resolve this complicated issue for you. But this is a good place to start. Great work, Robert!

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The Galilean Moons

Galileo discovered these four satellites of Jupiter in 1610, which revolutionized the study of astronomy and our view of ourselves, since it confirmed that the entire Universe didn't revolve around Earth. Furthermore, the Galilean Moons have captured the public imagination when it was discovered that they contain liquid water, and possible extra-terrestrial life. Read on...

Io:

Distance from Jupiter: 262,000 miles

Orbit period: 1.77 days

It's hard to imagine anyplace being more poisonous or inhospitable to life than Io. Unlike most satellites in the Solar System, Io's surface is made of silicate rock (it is not covered in a sheet of ice). Covered in over 400 volcano systems, sulfur geysers blast plumes of poisonous smoke miles into the air. Its surface is covered with flows of molten lava, several longer than 500 km. This satellite is so close to Jupiter that they interfere with eachother's magnetic fields. Beginning in 1973, Io has been visited five times by unmanned space probes.

Europa:

Distance from Jupiter: 417,000 miles

Orbit period: 3.55 days

Covered in ice and probably some liquid water, Europa's surface is the smoothest in the Solar System. It also has a nearly circular orbit, with an eccentricity of only 0.009. Its thin oxygen atmosphere and water oceans have led to conjecture that it may host microscopic sea life, ensuring a high profile for the moon's exploration. It is believed Europa may have a sub-surface ocean kept warm by tidal heat. Plans to visit, as part of NASA's Jupiter Icy Moons Project, were cancelled due to budget cuts in 2005.

Callisto:

Distance from Jupiter: 1,170,000 miles

Orbit period: 16.69 days

The surface is heavily cratered, leading scientists to believe this satellite is extremely old. Callisto hosts craters over 100 km in diameter, and its Valhalla Region contains a chain of craters over 1500 km long. It has never been warm enough to melt its ice component, but beneath the crust lies a salt ocean. Callisto has a strange interior that is not entirely uniform.

Ganymede:

Distance from Jupiter: 665,000 miles

Orbit period: 7.15 days

Ganymede is the largest natural satellite in the Solar System, and one of the only visible with the naked eye other than our own moon. Like most satellites, it is composed of rock and water ice. Its craters are quite flat, lacking the peaked rings as on the moon. In fact, its suface appears to be wrinkly. Recently, the Hubble telescope discovered ozone (the gas that protects our planet from Solar radiation) in its atmosphere.

Want to check out more photos from the Hubble telescope? Click here!

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Glamorama

Glamorama , by Bret Easton Ellis

$10.17 at Amazon.com

ISBN: 0375703845

Bret Easton Ellis is one of the leading writers of Generation X. He tells grisly stories of modern alienation like American Psycho and The Rules of Attraction. His characters tend to be psychotic, violent, as well as incredibly rich and good-looking. Glamorama is no exception.

Victor Ward is a 27-year-old male model who is opening a famous night-club in New York City. No expense will be spared to make it as glamorous as possible, and all his connections are being called in to pack the dance floor with as 

many A-List celebrities as he can find.

Unfortunately, all this excess costs him a bundle, and as opening night arrives, he's become desperately short on funds. This is when he receives a mysterious visit from a private investigator with a peculiar proposal. Victor is to be paid handsomely to travel to Paris and London in style. There, he will locate one of his many starlet ex-girlfriends, and persuade her to come home.

This seems like a dream come true for a shallow party-boy like Victor. A few weeks partying in Europe alongside a sizable chunk of change in his bank account is just what the doctor ordered. Naturally, it's not quite so simple. On his quest, Victor becomes involved with a league of international terrorists who kidnap and torture him and to fulfill their diabolical mission. An exciting and terrifying adventure story follows. Lots of sex, drugs, and Ellis' patented, depraved 

torture scenes.

Personally, I've enjoyed all of Ellis' novels. They move fast, and they're incredibly steamy. Most of them are rather non-linear and abstract, however; while Glamorama has a gripping, fully cohesive story that kept me eagerly turning the pages.

This novel is filled with dark humor, not suitable for young children or those suffering from heart conditions. The rest of us will enjoy reading along as a rich asshole gets manipulated by people who are much more clever than he is.

Being wealthy and connected isn't all it's cracked up to be. 

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The History of Civilization

Chapter Five: Ancient India and China

The vast Indian peninsula, though mostly separated, was not quite cut off by land or sea from Mesopotamia. From the first days of human existence Indians had contact with their neighbors to the northwest.

The civilization was centered along the Indus River, and stretched for over 1000 miles; making it the most extensive in terms of geography and quantity of affected people. Its cultures varied greatly; even today over 150 languages are spoken on the subcontinent. The Indus civilization was quite distinct. Its writing style was so unusual that it still cannot be read by modern scholars, and beautiful artifacts in clay and bronze foreshadow India's breathtaking art.

Around 1500 BC the area was invaded by a race of marauders called the Aryans. Such advanced developments as the use of writing, organized states, and conscious art vanished. In remote corners the Indus civilization survived until much later, and the Aryans took over many physical and cultural achievements from their predecessors. The Aryans were divided into classes, the kernel of the historic Hindu caste system.

Hinduism itself developed from a conglomeration of fertility cults and local faiths, and came to mirror the diversity of India. Profound thinkers among the Brahman caste considered the meaning of life and the nature of the world, their teachings becoming ever more mystical and refined. The result was one of the most abstract forms of religious thought which has ever been developed.

Chinese tradition remembers three dynasties at the dawn of civilization: Hsia, Shang, and Chou. The first of these, Hsia (c. 2205 - 1766 BC), is very dim but believed to have existed. The Shang (1766 - 1122 BC) is the earliest which can be described in any detail, an era of sudden advance in many aspects of Chinese culture. The armies of the Shang rulers gave a strong military cast to the earliest Chinese civilization, and encouraged early political unification and the development of an administrative hierarchy.

China's size and threatening terrain make communication difficult. The remarkable fact is that the entire region became essentially a unified civilization by the first millennium BC. When the Shang dynasty fell, it was replaced by the Chou (1122 - 256 BC), whose capable kings spread their rule into the valley of the Yangtze River. The greatest single philosopher who influenced China lived at this time: Confucius encouraged flexibility, rational analysis, and performance of one's duty.

To be continued...

The previous chapters are here.

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Playing for Pizza

Playing for Pizza, by John Grisham

$12.07 at Amazon.com

ISBN: 1846053684

John Grisham is most famous for writing legal thrillers like The Pelican Brief and A Time to Kill. Here, he's tried something different and it's a credit to what a good writer he is. Bravo, Mr. Grisham!

There's an old saying that God never closes a door without opening a window. This is the delightful story of Rick Dockery, a 28 year-old professional football player. The story begins after a catastrophic game in which Rick loses the championship for his team, the Cleveland Browns.

He's injured and briefly in the hospital, fired by the Browns, and no NFL team will hire him after his now infamous fumble.

Miraculously, Rick's agent manages to find him a job playing for a team in Parma, Italy. 

That's right, American football, which apparently many Italians love. I learned something new. 

The job doesn't pay enough to keep him in the jet set lifestyle to which he's accustomed, but he has few prospects in the US and takes what he can get.

When he arrives he knows almost nothing about modern Italy. He is almost a dumb jock at this point. In time the beautiful culture matures him. He develops a friendship with a beautiful opera diva who guides him through some of Europe's most beautiful cities, and for the first time imagines himself with someone other than a one-night-stand cheerleader.

My favorite scenes were the ones with his football teammates. They're a real fun group of dudes who indeed get payed little more than pizza yet dream of winning the Super Bowl.

Playing for Pizza is great for a guy who hasn't read a good book in a while. It's not too long (258 pages), is easy to get into, and full of sophisticated European adventure but with a rugged, sporty American protagonist.

There are some suspenseful scenes on the football field, but you needn't be a fan or even know the rules of the game to follow along: it just gives the novel some much-needed tension. It's mostly the tale of a handsome athlete who visits a beautiful city. A surefire crowd-pleaser!

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Quotations

It is often merely for an excuse that we say things are impossible.

Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613 - 1680)

Don't worry about people stealing an idea. If it's original, you will have to ram it down their throats.

Howard Aiken (1900 - 1973)

The beginning is always today.

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797 -1851)

You can be pleased with nothing when you are not pleased with yourself.

Lady Mary Wortley Montau (1689 - 1762)

When men are pure, laws are useless; when men are corrupt, laws are broken.

Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)

Where there's life, there's hope.

Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC)

I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.

Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826)

We are most alive when we're in love.

John Updike (1932 - )