Carl Sagan's "The Demon Haunted World"

"As children tremble and fear everything in the blind darkness, so we in the light sometimes fear what is no more to be feared than things children in the dark hold in terror..."

Lucretis - On the Nature of Things ~60 BCE

Carl Sagan's "The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark" is an exceptional book. In a nutshell, it is a series of short chapters on the scientific process and how to instruct people about it, how science and wonder are not exclusive to one another but beneficial, why it and critical/skeptical thinking are important, problems that arise when it isn't, and ways to use them in everyday life and to improve our society. To me it articulates what I think, but the methods and facts he uses are more poignant and provide a better definitive justification of my viewpoints than I could give.

One of the best takeaway from this book is his baloney detection kit. The items in the kit are are:
-Independent confirmation of the facts presented.
-Encouraging debate on the evidence, by knowledgeable persons, from all points of view.
-Arguments from authority have little weight in of themselves.
-Think of all the ways a thing can be explained, test each one, and remove that which can be disproved or cannot be proved. The remaining answers are the most likely explanation.
-Never get attached to a hypothesis just because it is your hypotheses. Always compare it fairly to the options.
-Quantify (use multiple methods of analysis) because something vague and based only on its quality is open to other explanations.
-If there is a chain to an argument then every chain must stand up to inquiry.
-Occam's Razor; if there are two equally valid explanations then the simpler one should be chosen.
-Ask if it the results can be falsified and if so, then they are not worth your time without independent verification of evidence.

A great quote, one of many, used in the book is from Morris Cohen: "To be sure, the vast majority of people who are untrained can accept the results of science only on authority. But there is obviously an important difference between an establishment that is open and invites everyone to come, study its methods, and suggests improvement, and one that regards the questioning of its credentials as due to wickedness of heart...Rational science treats its credit notes as always redeemable on demand, while non-rational authoritarianism regards the demand for the redemption of its paper as a disloyal lack of faith."

There is much in this book that can defend against what I fear, the use of zealotry to overthrow democracy for no other reason than power and control over others.  Highly recommended.

Postcard of the Interwebs - 10 Jan 2018

Ecologically Better Natural Gas Power: Using the CO2 burned to generate more power, the company "Net Power" is also attempting to sequester the leftover fumes and produce water from this process. Plant soon to be finished in Texas.

Dinosaur Tail found in Amber...and it had feathers!: How awesome is this! Could redo what many dinosaurs look like and help determine the intermediate species between reptile and avian.

Trees, Fungi, and Oxygen: A very interesting blog post on the history of the fungi that developed the ability to consume trees and created oxygen.

New Microbes in Antarctica: Opening another door to the avenues for searching for life off our planet, microbes on this one were found that live off of carbon monoxide, Carbon Dioxide, and hydrogen.

Alzheimer's Drug also treats Tooth Decay: The drug tideglusib turns off the GLU-3 enzyme, which stops dentine from forming.

A 19 year old Norwegian with a Spy Camera: A hidden camera from the 1890's! Lots of cool pics but kinda creepy.

Blocking/Eliminating the Tau Abnormal Protein could stop Alzheimer's: Oxford did a study on 17 patients using brain scans over time and concluded that there is a correlation between the spread of different types of tau filaments and the onset of Alzheimer's. Another possible piece of the puzzle.

End of 2017 and look to 2018

An ancient Chinese curse says, “May you live in interesting times”. Looks most of us got that memo. Putting that aside, I will discuss what I have experienced this last year and a look towards the next.

Music
I've purchased few CDs this year, but did cull many that were not being listened to and after re-listening discovered why. Of the ones I have gotten, there are some standouts.

-Pretty Reckless - Who Are You Selling For. I picked this up on Boxing day last year, after hearing their song “Take me Down” on the radio and really enjoying the blues roots. The rest of the album has been excessively listened to and I am not bored of it yet. The lyrics and licks channel classic Southern blues, yet they have made it their own with their sassy additions and alterations.

-ABCs of the Blues (52 CD set) – Saw this set on Amazon and treated myself after a back pay check. It has a hockeysock full of varied performers of different styles from gritty down-and-out blues to early rock-and-roll blues. Each CD showcases one, two, or three artists and they have been a joy to discover. There are omissions but you cannot always include them all. Comes with a tiny harmonica, which although my cats are curious about clearly indicate they are not enamored with it.

-L'Oiseau-Lyre: Medieval and Renaissance (50 CD set) – Although we are at the tail end of going through the Tafelmusik - Complete Sony Recordings, I saw this set and did the research before buying. As I got it at the tail end of this year, we have only gotten through a handful of CDs but thoroughly enjoy it.

-Judas Priest (2 CD Greatest Hits) – After listening to their songs over the decades, saw this at HMVs going out of business sale and was happy at the purchase. They rock with aplomb.

Other Cds picked up were: Ensemble Al Kindi - Parfume ottomans; Deluxe Cult – Love (2 Cds); Tom Cocraine Greatest Hits (2 Cds). Am also enjoying the Youtube channel Postmodern Jukebox. It was started by pianist Scott Bradlee who likes taking modern songs (1970’s to current) and doing musical interpretations of them from early 20^th century styles (1920’s to 1950’s for the most part).

Live concerts attended are: Asteria - My heart always remains with you (Artherian songs of the 15th century); Diabolus in Musica - Cantores (14th C Music from the Papal chapel in Avignon); Rachel Andueza and La Galania Spain - Locura and Tormenta (Spanish and Italian music of the 17th century); Stile Antico UK - In a Strange Land (Elizabethan Composers in Exile); and the Canadian rock band Tea Party. I will continue to see Early Music Society of the Islands performances that I am interested in.

My goal of learning how to play the three-string cigar box guitar as well as acoustic guitar has failed but is not forgotten. I did trade the acoustic guitar for an electric one mid year so I will try harder to give it a whirl.

Travel
I've had great trips to Helsinki, Tallin, Northern England, Hornby Island for camping in September, Tofino in November, several trips to Vancouver, and finally Kelwona for the winter holidays. There will be no out-of-Canada trips in 2018 but more camping. Stay tuned.

Non-Fiction Books
There were several standout non-fiction books read this year.
In Cold Blood by Trueman Capote was a superbly written account of the 1959 murders of the Cutter family by two males. It really captures the despair and motivations of the people directly and indirectly involved.
Would You Baptize an Extra Terrestrial by Guy Consolmagno S.J. and Paul Mueller S.J. is a refreshing look at being able to conduct scientific research while still maintaining faith without zealotry and maintaining the scientific process. It also is a good objective look at points of history in the Christian church.
Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Cambell is a comparison of multiple myths and religious stories and comparing them, with respect to the hero story. Amazing and insightful book that took a little more effort to get started in the university stlye of writing but was a page turner by the 20% mark.
Prehistory: The Making of the Human Mind by Colin Renfrew was an excellent introduction to the science and archeology, with regard to prehistorical humans and proto humans.

Two other books read were A Movable Feast (by Ernest Hemmingway) and Philosophy: Big Ideas Simply Explained, both excellent reads.

I will be reading in 2018 more history books, Carl Sagan's Demon-Haunted World, and continuing the history of the Peloponnesian war with Landmark Hellenica by Xenophon.

Fiction Books
I read 19 books this year. Standouts include Brother's Grimm Fairy Tales; Crow Road by Ian Banks, "Dark Forest" and "Death's End" by Liu Cixin; Hard to be a God by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky; Lady Susan, Love & Friendship and other works, Pride and Prejudice, and Sense and Sensibility all by Jane Austin; Summer Dragon by Todd Lockwood, and Woman in White by Wilkie Collins.

I will read more Jane Austin books this year as well as more sci-fi, mysteries, and regular fiction from Ian Banks.

Comics
Four collected comic series were read this year: Black Panther Vol 1: A Nation Under Your Feet; Teamups of the Brave and the Bold by J. Michael Strazinski; Ms Marvel Vol 5: Super Famous; Team-ups of the Brave and Bold; and Vision Vol 1: Little Worse Than A Man.

I have some more collected comics that I will read in 2018 to clear space on my shelf as well as a few Hugo nominated works that I received in the Hugo packet.

Magazines
Twenty-six magazines were read this past year. I'm catching up in my National Geographics very well and read from October 2014 to December 2015. Also keeping up with my National Geographic History (Sep/Oct 2016 to Sep/Oct 2017). They make for good reading while eating lunch and give interesting things to think and talk about. I also picked up a subscription to the magazine Archeology and read from May/June to Nov/Dec of this year. I’ve refreshed each of these publications.

Movie Theatre
Seventeen films were seen. Standouts were: Blade Runner 2049, Dunkirk, Hidden Figures, Logan and Wonder Woman. Other fun films were: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, Kong of Skull Island, Spider Man: Homecoming, Star Wars: Rogue One, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and Thor Ragnarok.

Looking froward to more superhero and sci-fi movies for fun and reflection.

Films in a House
Saw 63 films this year in a home. Standouts are: Adam's Rib, Anomalisa, Brief Encounter, Cape Fear (original), Captain Blood, Chinatown, Exmachina, Finding Dory, Fury (1936 Spencer Tracey film), Get Out, The Great McGinty, Hacksaw Ridge, Hail the Conquering Hero, Kubo and the Two-Strings, Love is All You Need, Man who shot Liberty Vallence, Moana, Raffles, Sea Hawks, The Third Man, What we do in the Shadows, and Watch on the Rhine. Look forward to seeing good films of the past that I've missed in 2018.

TV Non-Fiction
Myself and my spouse like expanding our knowledge of things we do not know or thought we know.

Standouts of the twenty-one movie length documentaries we have seen are: Art and Craft (about a prolific art forger who donates his finished pieces without letting the museums know they are faked), Exit through the Gift Shop (about Banksy and other graffiti artists), Finding Vivian Maier, Hipster Handbook, Johnny Cash at Folson Prison, Into Great Silence (three months in a Cartusian Monestary), Superheroes Decoded (4 hrs), and the stupendously done Ken Burns Vietnam War (18 hrs).

Watched 257 hour long programs and standouts were: Britain's Outlaws - Highwaymen, Pirates and Rogues (3 parts), Crusades (3 parts), Edwardian Farm (11 parts), Empire of the Tzars (3 parts), Full Steam Ahead (6 parts), Genius of the Ancient World: Confucius, Genius of the Modern World: Marx, Nietzsch, Freud (3 parts), Hidden Killers (3 parts), Joannah Lumley: Trans-Siberia Adventure (3 parts), Joannah Lumley in the Land of the Northern Lights, Last Explorers (3 parts), Lost Kingdoms of Central America (4 parts), Madame Chiang Kai-Shek, Mary Beard's Ultimate Rome: Empire Without Limit (4 parts), Masters of the Pacific Northwest (2 parts), Medieval Lives: Birth, Marriage, Death (3 parts), Mont Saint Michel: Resistance through the Ages, Napoleon (3 parts), Planet Earth 2 (5 of the 6); Puyi: The Last Emperor of China (2 parts), Quest for Bannock-burn (2 parts), Secrets of the Castle (3 parts), Silk Road (3 parts), Skeletons of the Sahara, The Wine Show (8 parts), Tudor Monastery Farm (5 parts), Victorian Farm (5 parts), Victorian Farm Christmas, and Vikings (2 parts with Neil Oliver).

Will continue to watch programming of these genres.


TV Fiction
I watch a lot of programs, because I like to paint models with something in the background. I was successful in reducing fiction programs that did not grab me and will be cutting more this year. This will allow me to watch more documentaries and history programs as well as free open course lectures and podcasts while I paint.


Some standouts of the 246 hours of programming were: Agents of Shield, Batman Vol 1-4 (108 episodes @ 20 min each), Colony, Doctor Who Christmas (Return of Doctor Mysterio), Elementary, Expanse, Handmaids Tale, Jessica Jones, Legion, Orville, Star Trek: Discovery, and Travelers.