Microblog: A very long article Wikipedia article on the orientation of toilet paper [Jun 7th, 22:52] [R]

Saturday, December 30th, 2006

Brothers in Arms

Categories: [ Books/Barrayar ]

A novel by Lois McMaster Bujold published in 1989.

After their operation on Dagoola IV, the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet is badly in need of repairs, and especially of money. The park in orbit around Earth where Miles goes to the Barrayaran embassy, hoping to get his mony from ImpSec. The consulate has not enough credits to cover such large expanses, and Miles has to wait for a courier to go and come back. In the meanwhile, Miles is affected to the staff of the embassy along with his cousin Ivan… Trouble begins when Miles is recognized as Admiral Naismith by a reporter; Miles then makes up a clone of himself to explain why Miles Vorkosigan looks so much like Naismith. Some time later, Miles' commanding officer at the embassy disapears mysteriously, while Miles wonders why his money hasn't arrived yet, and is not even mentionned in the message from ImpSec. And right after that, Miles is kidnapped and locked up with his C.O. He is interrogated by a Komarran rebel who happens to be Miles' C.O.'s father, who wants to take revenge over Count Vorkosigan, responsible for the invasion of Komarr almost thirty years ago. The rebel had had a clone of Miles made by House Bharaputra, and then trained as a mole and a killer, whose goal is to pose as Miles, kill the Count, become the new count, and from there jump the the imperial throne. Miles is freed by his fellow Dendarii just in the nick of time and manages to expose his clone (who, according to Betan philosophy, he considers as his brother and consequently names Mark, following Barrayaran tradition of naming the sons of Vor families). Miles more or less convinces Mark that the plot against Barrayar cannot work and that the real plot is about provoking a political chaos on Barrayar that could allow a revolution on Komarr, by exposing the Emperor as a fake. This would inevitably lead to the death of the Emperor i.e., Mark. In the end, the old rebel is killed by Mark, and the latter disapears with the help of Miles.

[ Posted on December 30th, 2006 at 00:00 | 1 comment | ]

Monday, December 25th, 2006

Borders of Infinity

Categories: [ Books/Barrayar ]

Three not-so-short stories by Lois McMaster Bujold, wrapped into one book, where Miles explains Illyan why the Dendarii have been costing ImpSec so much money lately.

In The Mountains of Mourning, Miles investigates the murder of a “mutant” baby in a small village in the backcountry of Barrayar, where infanticide for such a reason is still common. The mother accuses her husband of the crime becaus he was seen near the house where the baby was sleeping while the mother was picking berries at some distance. The murderer happens to be the mother of the mother, who had had several “mutant” babies and had killed them herself. The husband knew that she was the murderer, didn't say anything to protect his wife.

In Labyrinth, Miles conducts a covert operation on Jackson's Whole in order to help a geneticist of House Bharaputra to defect. The scientist won't leave without taking some vauable samples with him, but these are currently hidden into virus residing in the calf of a genetically engineered super soldier that he helped creating. Alas, the super-soldier has too much physiological drawbacks to be useful, and the project has been canceld; the only surviving specimen has been sold to House Ryoval for the Baron's collection of weird creatures. Miles then tries to enter Ryoval's facilities by night, but he's caught and locked up in a cellar with the super-soldier, who happens to be a female teenager, admitedly 8 feet tall and with sharp nails, but very friendly if you are friendly with her. Miles manages to escape with the creature he named Taura, just after destroying the whole collection of Ryoval's tissue samples that is the core of his business.

In The Borders of Infinity Miles is a prisoner of war of the Cetagandans. The prison camp is on Dagoola IV under an everlighted dome. The prisoners are all living together, and organised as gangs; only the stronger survive. Miles manages to organize the weaker people to control the distribution of food (which appears twice a day in a random location of the dome as a heap of space rations). Once he managed to organize all the prisoners, the Dendarii arrive and extracts all the ten thousand people within two hours, the delay needed by the Cetagandans to get their fleet to defend the place against the attacker.

[ Posted on December 25th, 2006 at 15:58 | 1 comment | ]

Friday, December 22nd, 2006

Thud!

Categories: [ Books/Discworld ]

ISBN: 0552152676

© Amazon.fr

Traditionalist dwarfs are mining under Ankh-Morpork. On the surface, dwarfs and trolls prepare to re-enact the Koom Valley battle for real, in the streets of Ankh-Morpork. A dwarf is murdered in the mine, obviously by a troll. Sam Vimes thinks that the truth is not that obvious and starts to lead an investigation, which leads to the discovery of other dead dwarfs in the mine. These have been killed because they found the item that the traditionalists had been seeking (a voice recorder that tells what actually happend at Koom Valley, a thousand years ago), heard what it had to say, and the traditionalist didn't want the truth to be revealed. Vimes and others watchmen chase the traditionalists who have fled to Koom Valley and discover the cave where the troll king and the dwarf king (now fossilized as stalagmites) had met, ages ago, to discuss peace between the two species. The traditionalists are defeated and taken into custody.

[ Posted on December 22nd, 2006 at 18:58 | 2 comments | ]

Saturday, December 16th, 2006

Vocabulaire, 3è partie – Sanasto, 3. osa

Translation: [ Google | Babelfish ]

Categories: [ Emma ]

Français

  • hipoutam = hippopotame
  • iskineu = dictionnaire
  • paté moulé = pâte à modeler

Suomi

  • nenä räkässä = räkää nenässä

[ Posted on December 16th, 2006 at 12:08 | no comment | ]

Friday, December 15th, 2006

Kylmät hermot, kuuma veri

Translation: [ Google ]

Categories: [ Books ]

http://www.wsoy.fi/index.jsp?c=/product&isbn=951-0-32048-X

© WSOY

Arto Paasilinnan uusin kirja kertoo Antti Kokkoluodon elämän, syntymästä Ykspihjalassa ennustettuun kuolinpäivään asti. Antilla on monia seikkailuja: lapsena hän melkein kuoli kylmään, koska hän halusi mennä kävellen Ruotsiin (hänellä oli paljon kuumetta). Myöhemmin hän salakuljetti pirtua isänsä kanssa kieltolain aikaan. Hän myös pelasti isänsä hengen, jonka fasistit halusivat ampua koska he olivat päättäneet että hän oli kommunisti. Antti meni myös salakihloihin tytön kanssa joka kuoli vähän myöhemmin. Hän pääsi sitten armeijaan, tapasi lotan, jonka kanssa hän meni naimisiin juuri ennen lähtöän talvisotaan. Hän sai pari lasta, ja meni sitten taistelemaan jatkosotaan. Venäläiset ottivat hänet vangiksi ja hän vietti kuusi kuukautta vankileirillä. Kun hän tuli takaisiin Ykspihlajaan hän aloitti liikemiehen uran, ja hänestä tuli myöhemmin poliitikko ja Ykspihlajan kansanedustaja. Kun hänen ennustettu kuolinpäivänsä lähestyy, hän järjestää isot juhlat ja kutsuu kaikki ystävänsä (poliitikkoja, ministereitä, toimittajia, jne.)

[ Posted on December 15th, 2006 at 23:25 | no comment | ]

Warm Welcome

Categories: [ Beer/Ridgeway ]

Warm_Welcome

“… a hearty amber-brown color and a warm, rounded nutty taste.”

Mild and tasting a bit like nuts, maybe. Made of barley, wheat, rye and oats.

Ridgeway Brewing, Oxfordshire, England. 6% alcohol.

[ Posted on December 15th, 2006 at 21:22 | no comment | ]

Tuesday, December 12th, 2006

Mission Impossible Versus the Mob

Categories: [ TV/Cinema ]

http://www.movieart.se/s_posterdetails.asp?s_ID=433

© Moviearts.se

Frank Wayne, the big boss of the mafia, is movig all his money to Switzerland, costing much to the State. The IMF attempts to stop him. Jim Phelps plays an investigator from the Senate who harrases Wayne and finally arrests him. Wayne is switched with Rollin Hand, disguised as Wayne. Rollin is then gettin his real face back under the cover of instant aesthetic surgery performed by Cinnamon Carter, who is actually only removing his makeup. Againts the will of the Organisation's council, Wayne/Hand orders his henchman to kill the investigator by exploding his car. Phelps escapes the attack thanks to a trapdoor in the bottom of the car, leading to a sewer opening on top of which the car was parked. Meanwhile, Hand manages to open the safe of Wayne's office in which all the Organisation's ledgers are hidden. Wayne's is then sentence to death by a full council, but Wayne/Hand manages to escape through one elevator. Barney Collier had previously fixed the elevator so that it is synchronized with the one just next to it. Hand crawls into the second elevator while both are descending, rejoining his associates, and the real Wayne (sedated until then) is put back into the first one and reanimated. When the elevator reaches the underground parking lot, Wayne wakes up just in time to be killed by his henchman. The IMF members leave the place unnoticed just as the police arrives, called earlier by Cinnamon.

[ Posted on December 12th, 2006 at 00:30 | no comment | ]

Sunday, December 10th, 2006

Christmas Ale 2006

Categories: [ Beer/Shepherd Neame ]

Christmas_Ale

“This golden amber ale has a generous aroma of tropical fruit. The fruity flavour has hints of mangoes, oranges, lemons and sultanas.”

I haven't really noticed the tropical fruits, but this ale is better than the usual production of Shepherd Neame. Its' rather flowery than fruity. Contains malted barley.

Shepherd Neame, Faversham, Kent, England. 5.5% alcohol.

[ Posted on December 10th, 2006 at 00:37 | no comment | ]

Friday, December 8th, 2006

Old Engine Oil

Categories: [ Beer/Harviestoun ]

Old_Engine_Oil

“… derived from a traditional Celtic recipe. Wickedly smooth chocolate dominates the flavour…”

I wouldn't call that taste “chocolate”, but rather flowery with something of berries? Anyway, it is slightly bitter and quite good.

Harviestoun Brewery, Clackmannanshire, Scotland. 6.0% alcohol.

[ Posted on December 8th, 2006 at 23:51 | no comment | ]

Wednesday, December 6th, 2006

Very Bad Elf

Categories: [ Beer/FAVOURITES | Beer/Ridgeway ]

Very_Bad_Elf

“… brewed to an original 1795 Thames Valley recipe, with a very special pale amber malt that is rarely used nowadays, and balanced by a modest addition of English Fuggle aroma hops.”

Very flavourful, quite mild. Very good.

Ridgeway Brewing, Oxfordshire, England. 7.5% alcohol.

[ Posted on December 6th, 2006 at 23:46 | no comment | ]

Sunday, December 3rd, 2006

Casino Royale

Categories: [ TV/Cinema/James Bond ]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0381061/

© Imdb.com

James Bond's first mission as a 00 agent. A mission in Uganda fails lamely when Bond wrecks havoc in an embassy while supposed to spy on a terrorist. Asked by MI6 to take some time off, he continues his investigation which leads him to the Bahamas, and from there to the Miami's Airport, where a new prototype plane, scheduled for test flight is the target of another hired terrorist. The attacks are ordered by Le Chiffre, the banker of the world's terrorist organizations, who invests his customer's money in hasardous financial gambles. Because of Bond's intervention, he just lost all the money of an Ugandan rebel chief. In order to regain money, Le Chiffre organizes a high stakes game of poker in a casino in Montenegro. MI6 sends Bond there, since he's the best card player of the service and Le Chiffre's loss would destroy his organization, accompanied with Vesper Lynd, from the Treasury, who is assigned to keep an eye on Bond's spendings. The game is interrupted by pauses, during which Bond is almost killed by the Ugandan rebel wanting his money back from Le Chiffre and poisoned by Le Chiffre who doesn't want Bond to win the game. Bond barely escapes the latter attent to his life, and finally wins (thanks to Felix Leiter, a CIA agent who extended Bond's credits after Lynd refused). Vesper Lynd gets then kidnapped by Le Chiffre and Bond rushes to save her, but he gets caught and tortured by Le Chiffre who wants the password that would give him access to Bond's bank account that was setup for the poker game. Bond's life is saved just in time by an unknown third party. He then leaves to Venice with Vesper (with whom he desperatly fell in love). She however betrays him, withdrawing all Bond's (and Her Majesty's) money and brings it to an unknown character. Bond follows her, but is attacked by the henchmen of the unknown one. He doesn't get the money back, and fails to save Vesper's life who commited suicide rather than facing Bond. He then learned that she was trying to save the life of her fiancee, who was kidnapped by terrorists (the same ones she made a deal with that saved Bond's life when tortured by Le Chiffre). Vesper however had left Bond a note before leaving to the bank, setting him on the trail of Mr. White, the one who took the money in Venice. Bond tracks White down, gets the money back and his takes hie revenge on him.

The script is quite similar to Ian Fleming's Casino Royale novel (although terrorists, poker and Montenegro replace respectively the russian spies, baccara and the french riviera, not mentioning the abusive usage made of mobile phones, the Internet and electronic gadgets). The movie is quite different from the others by its structure (the poker game is central to the story although there is no action, except during the breaks) and the fact that Bond fells in love. Also, it is definitely a prequel to the series, but at the same time, it is clearly set in time after the previous episodes…

[ Posted on December 3rd, 2006 at 23:39 | 1 comment | ]

Saturday, November 25th, 2006

Old Winter Ale

Categories: [ Beer/FAVOURITES | Beer/Fuller's ]

Old_Winter_Ale

“The Crystal malts int the brew give a sweet, nutty character to the beer, whilst the Target, Challenger and Northdown hop varieties, help balance the strong, satisfying dark ale.”

Just another ale, but a good one, not bitter. Contains malted barley.

Fuller Smith & Turner, London, England. 5.3% alcohol.

[ Posted on November 25th, 2006 at 19:15 | no comment | ]

Friday, November 24th, 2006

Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Beer

Categories: [ Beer/FAVOURITES | Beer/Innis and Gunn ]

Innis_and_Gunn

“For 30 days this honey-hued beer sleeps in hand selected oak barrels, locked inside a bonded warehouse, gradually assimilating the subtle flavours that reside in the wood. Barrels are then emptied and maturation continues for a further 47 days in a marrying tun… Aromas of vanilla and toffee, hints of citrus with a malty, lightly oaked palate.”

Very soft taste, that reminds of whisky and of chocolate mint. Delicious. Made of barley malt.

Innis & Gunn, Edinburgh, Scotland. 6.6% alcohol.

[ Posted on November 24th, 2006 at 19:07 | no comment | ]

Sunday, November 19th, 2006

Old Tom

Categories: [ Beer/Robinsons ]

Old_Tom

“aromas of dark fruit and a palate boomig with ripe malt and hops followed by a deep port wine finish.”

Very sweet and quite bitter, very strong too.

Frederic Robinson Ltd, Stockport, England. 8.5% alcohol.

[ Posted on November 19th, 2006 at 15:37 | no comment | ]

Saturday, November 18th, 2006

Saturnalia

Categories: [ Books/Comics/Webcomics ]

http://www.spacecoyote.com/comics/sat/

© Space Coyote

Saturnalia is about a cop who gets dragged into a group of vigilante who fight for the right of androids, against another group who consider androids a threat against the humans and tries to get them exterminated.

[ Posted on November 18th, 2006 at 18:26 | no comment | ]

Misfile

Categories: [ Books/Comics/Webcomics ]

http://www.misfile.com/

© Chris Hazelton

Ash was a boy until an angel messed up his life and turned him into a girl. Emily is a girl who just managed to get admitted in college, and whose last two years of hard work have just been erase by the same clumsy angel. Misfile is about the two heroes trying to cope with their new lives and getting the angel, exiled on Earth, to do enough good to be admitted back in heaven and fix his mistakes (before his bosses actually notice it).

[ Posted on November 18th, 2006 at 18:21 | no comment | ]

Flipside

Categories: [ Books/Comics/Webcomics ]

http://www.flipsidecomics.com/

© Brion Foulke

Maytag is a shy woman who turns into a cheeky girl when she puts on her jester's costume. Bernadette is a fine swordswoman who dreams of becoming a knight.

[ Posted on November 18th, 2006 at 18:14 | no comment | ]

Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire

Translation: [ Google | Babelfish ]

Categories: [ Books/Comics/Webcomics ]

http://www.dominic-deegan.com/

© Mookie

Dominic Deegan is a seer. His life taks a sudden turn when he meets Luna, a beautiful girl (except for hers tusks) that her mother is trying to get killed. Later on, he discovers that he is chosen to fight against the Storm of Souls. And so on…

The series is quite fun and full of bad puns, just how I like it.

[ Posted on November 18th, 2006 at 17:29 | no comment | ]

Lump of Coal

Categories: [ Beer/Ridgeway ]

Lump_of_Coal

“Yet another bummed-out holiday? Lump of Coal Dark Holiday Stout is liquid consolation. It's a deep, rich, sweetly rewarding stout to take the edge off of that grim family gathering, that cheerless annual festival of alienation. This brew is as dark as it gets, as black as the lump of coal you'll be getting for Christmas. Because, let's face it, you've been pretty bad this year.”

Very sweet and very strong.

Ridgeway Brewing, Oxfordshire, England. 8% alcohol.

[ Posted on November 18th, 2006 at 17:09 | no comment | ]

Thursday, November 16th, 2006

Le Choco-Noursy théorique

Translation: [ Google | Babelfish ]

Categories: [ Cooking/Choco Noursy ]

Analyse du Nutella

Le Nutella contient 6.5% de protéines, 57% de glucides et 31% de lipides. On sait aussi qu'il est composé de sucre, d'huile, de noisettes (13%), de cacao dégraissé (7,4%), de lait (6,6%), de lactosérum et de graisse solide.

Enfin, Fineli donne la composition de divers aliments, on trouve donc les informations suivantes:

  • sucre: 99.9% glucides
  • huile: 100% lipides
  • noisette: 14% protéines, 17,7% glucides, 61% lipides
  • lait en poudre: 32,4% protéines, 52,9% glucides, 1% lipides
  • lactosérum: 11,9% protéines, 78% glucides, 1,1% lipides
  • graisse (de coco): 0,5% protéines, 99,5% lipides

En outre, mon cacao en poudre contient 24,5% protéines, 11% glucides et 21,7% lipides.

De toute cela on peut déduire que le Nutella est composé de:

  • sucre: 46%
  • huile: 15%
  • noisettes: 13%
  • cacao: 7,4%
  • lait: 6,6%
  • lactorsérum: 6%
  • graisse: 6%

L'erreur relative par rapport aux valeurs annoncées du Nutella est de 0,2% pour les protéines, 0,4% pour les glucides et 1,2% pour les lipides.

Vers un nouveau Choco-Noursy

Mon chocolat au lait contient déjà du sucre, du lait (14%), du cacao (30%) et du beurre de cacao (30% environ), plus les lécithines et l'arôme de vanille qui entrent aussi dans la composition du Nutella.

Voici donc la composition théorique du Choco-Noursy à base de chocolat au lait:

  • sucre: 38%
  • huile: 18%
  • chocolat: 20%
  • noisettes: 13%
  • lait en poudre: 10%
  • cacao: 1%

Ce qui donne une composition nutritionnelle de 6,5% protéines, 57,4% glucides et 32,6% lipides, ce qui est relativement proche de celle du Nutella.

Le sucre du Nutella est apporté sous forme de sucre et de sirop de glucose, donc il faut peut-être essayer d'apporter le sucre sous forme de sirop plutôt que sous forme de cristaux (qui ne se dissolveraient pas facilement dans l'huile ou le chocolat fondu). La densité du sirop de sucre devra être déterminée par l'expérimentation.

Composition nutritionnelle des précédents Choco-Noursy

La version 4 contient 6% de protéines, 40% de glucides et 31% de lipides (1915 kJ/100g). Elle était donc tout aussi grasse que le Nutella, mais moins sucrée.

La version 5 contient 9% de protéines, 28% de glucides et 41% de lipides (2110 kJ/100g). Elle est donc nettement moins sucrée que le Nutella, mais beaucoup plus grasse.

[ Posted on November 16th, 2006 at 10:45 | no comment | ]

Sunday, November 12th, 2006

Bishops Finger

Translation: [ Google | Babelfish ]

Categories: [ Beer/Shepherd Neame ]

Bishops_Finger

“Classic Kentish ale… using the best English Golding hops and only the spring water from a 300 years old well.”

The text on the back of the bottle was in Swedish…

Just another ale, quite bitter.

Shepherd Neame, Faversham, Kent, England. 3.5% alcohol.

[ Posted on November 12th, 2006 at 21:23 | no comment | ]

Black Sheep's Emmerdale

Categories: [ Beer/Black Sheep ]

Emmerdale

“… fruity English Golding hops and Maris Otter malted barley.”

Just another ale, not bitter. Made of barley and wheat.

Black Sheep Brewery, Masham, North Yorkshire, England. 4.2% alcohol.

[ Posted on November 12th, 2006 at 21:20 | no comment | ]

Monday, November 6th, 2006

Applied Linguistics: My American Accent

Categories: [ Science ]

What American accent do you have?

Your Result: The Northeast (97%)

“Judging by how you talk you are probably from north Jersey, New York City, Connecticut or Rhode Island. Chances are, if you are from New York City (and not those other places) people would probably be able to tell if they actually heard you speak.”

What American accent do you have?

Thank you Antti-Juhani for that wonderful moment of true science ;)

[ Posted on November 6th, 2006 at 14:51 | no comment | ]

Saturday, November 4th, 2006

Les extensions « Rivière » pour Carcassonne

Translation: [ Google | Babelfish ]

Categories: [ DIY | Games ]

http://www.carcassonne.de/familie.htm

© Hans im Glück Verlag

Carcassonne est un jeu de société où les joueurs construisent une carte en assemblant des carreaux tirés au hasard représentant des parties de ville, de route, de champ et des monastères. Le jeu dispose de plusieurs extensions (hors de prix comparées au jeu de base), mais aussi de deux extensions gratuites à fabriquer soi-même : la rivière et la rivière 2. La rivière se construit avant le début du jeu proprement dit, donc ses carreaux ne sont pas mélangés à ceux du jeu de base, et n'ont pas besoin d'être identiques.

carcassonne-riviere

Pour commencer, on peut télécharger les avers des carreaux sur le site du jeu (chercher les liens « Der Fluss » et « Der Fluss II »), puis imprimer les carreaux (qui sont au format PDF, en couleur). J'ai ensuite découpé les bords blancs, puis coupé chaque planche en deux parties (plus facile à coller). J'ai collé chaque demi-planche sur du carton de 2 mm d'épaisseur (approximativement l'épaisseur des carreaux originaux) avec de la colle blanche. Le truc, c'est d'encoller le carton (plutôt que le papier) et d'étaler la colle sur toute la surface avec une raclette (par exemple une vieille carte de téléphone), puis de coller le papier. On évite ainsi que le papier ne gondole, et ça sèche en quelques minutes. J'ai ensuite découpé les carreaux au cutter, pour me rendre compte que les marques sur les avers donnent des carreaux légèrement plus grandes que les originales, j'ai donc redécoupé les carreaux en utilisant un carreau du jeu original comme gabarit.

J'ai aussi scanné le revers d'un carreau du jeu de base et je l'ai imprimé en 24 exemplaires pour faire un revers à mes carreaux. J'ai découpé chacun de mes revers, puis je les ai collés un par un au dos de chaque carte, en utilisant la même technique que ci-dessus.

[ Posted on November 4th, 2006 at 17:15 | 6 comments | ]

Friday, November 3rd, 2006

W.P.A

Categories: [ Beer ]

WPA

“Light and golden in colour with wonderful bursts of citrus fruits and an unforgettable hoppyness at the finish.”

Wentworth Pale Ale, a.k.a. WOPPA. Not bad for a pale ale, quite fruity.

Wentworth Brewery, Wentworth, Rotherham, England. 4.0% alcohol.

[ Posted on November 3rd, 2006 at 23:03 | no comment | ]

Thursday, November 2nd, 2006

The Wotch

Translation: [ Google | Babelfish ]

Categories: [ Books/Comics/Webcomics ]

http://www.thewotch.com

© Anne Onymous & Robin Ericson

A webcomic made by Anne Onymous and Robin Ericson and published at www.thewotch.com. Anne just arrived at Tandy's High School. Robyn and his friend Jason soon notice that she has magical powers. Anne is more than a witch, she's the Wotch, the most powerful witch in the world. Except that she's just beginning with all that magic stuff. With the help from Robyn and Jason, they are going to fight super-villains Anne made come out of their comics, demons, djinns, a bunch a feminist who want to get rid of all men, be turned into werecats and other magical creatures… One recurring trick of Anne's is to turn boys into girls (and Jason loves becoming Sonja, even if he won't admit it).

[ Posted on November 2nd, 2006 at 23:18 | no comment | ]

Tuesday, October 24th, 2006

La fin du A

Translation: [ Google | Babelfish ]

Categories: [ Books ]

ISBN: 2290016012

© Amazon.fr

La fin du A a été écrit en 1984 par A.E. Van Vogt et fait suite aux Joueurs du A. Au début de ce dernier tome de la trilogie du A, Gilbert Gosseyn se réveille dans une sorte de cercueil, qui se révèle en fait être une capsule spatiale. Il se rend rapidement compte qu'il n'est pas le Gilbert Gosseyn qui a été le héros des deux épisodes précédents, mais le troisième corps de Gilbert Gosseyn, que l'on croyait détruit à la fin du premier épisode. La capsule est récupérée par le vaisseau amiral de la flotte Dzan, originaire d'une autre galaxie et qui s'est retrouvé transporté dans la notre de façon inexplicable. Gosseyn Trois fais la connaissance de l'empereur, encore enfant, et déjà tyrannique, et de sa mère. Il emmène l'enfant sur Terre (un peu par accident), dans le but de lui enseigner la sémantique générale pour en faire une dirigeant plus juste, et aussi pour restaurer l'Institut de Sémantique Générale afin de plus tard reconstruire une Machine des Jeux (détruite dans le premier épisode) et de promulguer un État qui suit les préceptes de la sémantique générale. Ses projets sont interrompus par plusieurs similarisations intempestives qui le transportent pour un temps limité dans un vaisseau spatial inconnu. Gosseyn découvre que ce vaisseau appartient aux Troogs, ennemis héréditaires des Dzans, lui aussi transporté dans cette galaxie en même temps que celui des Dzan. Les Troogs suspectent (à raison) que Gosseyn est la cause de leur voyage intempestif et veulent l'étudier afin de comprendre ce qui s'est passé et comment rentrer chez eux. Gosseyn finit par rencontrer le capitaine (autoproclamé) du vaisseau qui est rapidement dépassé par la situation et qui est sur le champ remplacé par un autre Troog qui s'autoproclame capitaine. Durant la discussion avec les Troogs, Gosseyn expose sa théorie selon laquelle les Troogs seraient des humains qui ont muté à cause de la catastrophe qui avait forcé une partie des humains de l'autre galaxie à migrer vers la notre, et à la peupler (chose qu'il l'avait appris dans l'épisode précédent). À l'aide de Leej et de Gosseyn Deux, Gosseyn Trois parvient à renvoyer les Dzans et les Troogs dans leur galaxie.

[ Posted on October 24th, 2006 at 00:00 | no comment | ]

Monday, October 23rd, 2006

Monty Python's Holy Grail

Translation: [ Google | Babelfish ]

Categories: [ Beer/Black Sheep ]

Holy_Grail

“Tempered over burning witches”

A funny, attractive label, but it's an ale like many others. Not my favourite. Made of malted barley and wheat.

Black Sheep Brewery, Masham, North Yorkshire, England. 4.7% alcohol.

[ Posted on October 23rd, 2006 at 00:02 | no comment | ]

Saturday, October 21st, 2006

Nuhalääke

Translation: [ Google ]

Categories: [ Cooking ]

Tuo keite helpotti minun nuha (mutta se oli ehkä myös heikko nuha…). Kiitos Pescalune reseptistä.

Ainekset

  • 2-4 viipaletta tuoretta inkivääriä
  • 4-8 kokonaista mustapippuria
  • 3-6 neilikkaa
  • 1-2 kanelitankoa
  • 3-6 kardemumman siementä
  • 2-4 lehteä salvia
  • 3dL vettä

Valmistaminen

Keitä kaikki ainekset kymmenen minuuttia kiehuvassa vedessä. Juo kuumana 3-4 kertaa päivässä.

[ Posted on October 21st, 2006 at 02:19 | no comment | ]

Friday, October 20th, 2006

Île flottante

Translation: [ Google | Babelfish ]

Categories: [ Cooking ]

Après deux tentatives ratées, la troisième fut la bonne (voire plus loin pour l'analyse des ratages).

Ingrédients

  • 6 œufs
  • 240g sucre
  • 1L lait
  • sucre vanillé

Préparation

Séparer les blancs des jaunes d'œufs. Les jaunes serviront à préparer une crème anglaise, et les blancs à l'île proprement dite.

La crème anglaise

Faire bouillir le lait avec 100g de sucre et le sucre vanillé (ou avec une gousse de vanille fendue). Mélanger les jaunes d'œufs, puis ajouter le lait chaud peu à peu sans cesser de mélanger. Fair épaissir au bain-marie ou dans une casserole è feu très doux. Lorsque le mélange atteint 80 °C, la crème est prête. Si des grumeaux apparaissent, c'est qu'elle a chauffé trop longtemps, mais il suffit de la passer au mixer pour réparer les dégats. Laisser refroidir.

L'île
ile_flottante

Battre les blancs en neige, ajouter 80g de sucre et terminer de les battre. Dans un moule métallique (non-recouvert de téflon, de préférence en inox), préparer un caramel avec 60g de sucre et juste assez d'eau pour imbiber tout le sucre: faire chauffer (ne pas remuer après que l'ébulltion a commencé). Lorsque le sucre a pris la couleur désirée (vers 160-170 °C), laisser refroidir, puis ajouter quelques cuillérées à soupe d'eau. Refaire bouillir pour dissoudre le caramel dans l'eau et obtenir un caramel fluide. Laisser refroidir (en trempant éventuellement le fond du moule dans l'eau froide), puis faire rouler le moule pour répandre le caramel sur l'intérieur. Remplir alors le moule avec le blanc d'œuf cuillère à soupe après cuillère à soupe, en évitant de toucher les bords (afin de laisser le caramel remonter au fur et à mesure que les blancs d'œufs s'entassent dans le moule). Placer le moule dans une marmite un peu plus grande que le moule et remplir la marmite d'eau bouillante jusqu'à ce que le niveau de l'eau arrive à deux centimètres du haut du moule. Placer l'ensemble au four préchauffé à 150 °C sans couvrir et laisser cuire au bain-marie durant 45 minutes. Les blancs d'œufs vont gonfler d'environ un tiers. Une fois cuit, sortir le moule de la marmite et laisser refroidir.

Assemblage

Une fois l'île et la crème refroidis, plonger le moule dans l'eau bouillante pendant trente secondes, puis démouler l'île dans le plat de service (à bords haut, ou alors utiliser un grand saladier). Verser doucement la crème anglaise autour de l'île, qui se mettre à flotter naturellement.

Commentaires

ile_flottante_ratee
  • Pour la première expérience, ma mère a suggéré de cuire l'île dans une cocotte minute pour gagner du temps. Grave erreur ! La cocotte cuit sous pression, mais les bulles d'air qui forment la neige, elles, sont à pression atmosphériques. Résultat, j'ai obtenu un gel de blanc d'œuf caramélisé et surtout tout plat.
  • Lors de la deuxième expérience, j'ai suivi les conseils de Mme de Saint-Ange, disant qu'il fallait couvrir le bain-marie. Encore raté, j'ai obtenu le même machin que ci-dessus, le blanc d'œuf mousseux ayant tenté, sans succès de gonfler sous le couvercle trop serré il a perdu ses bulles et s'est totalement dégonflé.

[ Posted on October 20th, 2006 at 17:56 | no comment | ]

Plieur de T-shirt

Translation: [ Google | Babelfish ]

Categories: [ DIY ]

Je n'aime pas tellement l'idée de coller des videos dans mon blog (surtout que la pérennité de la video n'est pas assurée), mais le plieur de T-shirt en carton, il fallait absolument que je me le garde quelque part !

Un lien direct sur YouTube et sur Google Video.

[ Posted on October 20th, 2006 at 00:54 | 1 comment | ]

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life

Categories: [ TV/Cinema ]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0325703/

© IMDB.com

The Cradle of Life is the second Tomb Raider movie. An earthquake in Santorini reveals an ancient temple built by Alexander the Great. Lara Croft goes there and discovers a strange, luminous orb. As soon as she manages to pick it up, she is attacked and the orb is stolen while an after shock destroys the temple. The thief is a Chinese gangster who is acting on behalf of the real bad guy, a bio-weapon manufacturer: the orb is a map leading to the cradle of life, where Pandora's box is located. Lara then gets a former boyfriend of her out of prison who will help her to get to the gangster. She manages to learn that the orb is en route to Shanghai where it is going to be sold. Lara can't get the orb back, but a tracer she managed to put on the orb's crate leads her and her friend to Hong Kong. There she steals the orb from the bad guy's secret lab (located in the middle of a shopping center). There she dumps her friend, because he's too unreliable. Decoding the map on the orb leads her to the foot of Kilimanjaro, where she is soon followed by the bad guy and his army. The army is wiped out in a valley full of strange monsters, but Lara and the bad guy manage to enter the cradle of life (a maze of caves where gravity is not following the usual rules). The bad guy forces her to get the cradle out of a lake of black acid (supposedly Pandora's tears after she opened the box), but Lara's friend arrives just in time to save her. Alas! He wants the box for himself (ain't he stupid!), so Lara kills him. She puts the box back to the lake. End of story.

The first Tomb Raider movie was nicely bad, this one is just plain bad. It looks like a video game, with completely useless shooting scenes which looks just like a “shoot all the targets” sequence in a video game.

[ Posted on October 20th, 2006 at 00:34 | no comment | ]

Tuesday, October 17th, 2006

Les joueurs du A

Translation: [ Google | Babelfish ]

Categories: [ Books ]

ISBN: 2277123978

© Amazon.fr

Les joueurs du A a été écrit en 1948 par A.E. Van Vogt et fait suite au Monde du A. Gilbert Gosseyn tente d'aller sur Vénus, mais quelqu'un, un être fait d'ombre qui se nomme le Disciple, cherche à l'en empêcher. Au cours d'un voyage par distorseur, l'esprit de Gosseyn se retrouve dans le corps du craintif Prince Ashargin, qui vient de quitter plusieurs années d'esclavage au service du temple du Dieu Endormi pour rejoindre la cour d'Enro le Rouge, dicateur du Plus Grand Empire qui veut étendre son hégémonie à toute la galaxie et en particulier détruire la civilisation A de Vénus. Gosseyn y rencontre Reesha, la sœur d'Enro, qu'il a connu plus tôt sous le nom de Patricia Hardie, la fille de feu le président de la Terre, ainsi qu'Eldred Crang, son mari. Il y fait aussi la connaissance de Secoh, grand prêtre du Dieu Endormi. Au cours d'un voyage en distorseur, Gosseyn réintègre son propre corps qui se trouve dans un cellule, dans la retraite du Disciple. Il parvient à s'en évader à l'aide de Leej, sa co-détenue qui a un pouvoir de prédiction. Ils s'enfuient à bord de son aéroulote. Apprenant qu'Enro cherche à enrôler le plus grand nombre possible de Prédicteurs afin de mener son attaque sur Vénus et sur la Terre, Gosseyn et Leej montent à bord d'un destroyer d'Enro sous prétexte de rejoindre ses forces, et grâce aux facultés de Gosseyn, parviennent à se rendre maître du vaisseau en peu de temps. Malheureusement, Gosseyn se retrouve une fois de plus dans le corps d'Ashargin. Il cherche à joindre le destroyer pour s'assurer que son corps est sauf, mais la communication est impossible. Il apprend aussi que Crang a l'intention d'assassiner Enro, seule solution envisageable pour sauver Vénus et la Terre de la folie du dictateur. Lors d'un autre voyage en distorseur, Gosseyn rejoint son propre corps à bord du destroyer, et apprend que le système de propulsion par distorseur a été saboté et que le vaisseau est perdu dans l'espace. Gosseyn parvient à forcer le saboteur à se dévoiler et à replacer l'élément qu'il avait remplacé par une version défectueuse. Gosseyn, qui a acquis l'amitié du capitaine, rejoint alors Vénus juste à temps pour en prévenir les habitants de l'imminence d'une attaque. L'évacuation de Vénus est alors organisée et les habitants A se répandent dans toute la galaxie, commençant ainsi la propagation du A au delà des frontières du système solaire. En même temps, la défense de Vénus est organisée à l'aide de « mines spatiales » qui agissent sur le cerveau des équipages des vaisseaux ennemis afin de leur faire perdre connaissance. Gosseyn entreprend ensuite de découvrir l'identité du Disciple et du mystérieux deuxième joueur qui l'a plusieurs fois transféré dans le corps d'Ashargin. Le disciple se révèle être Secoh, et l'autre joueur est le cerveau électronique de la machine qui maintient le Dieu Endormi en vie. Ce dernier est un survivant de la Migration qui avait eu lieu plusieur millions d'années auparavant. Un phénomène inattendu avait effacé la mémoire de toutes les autres machines qui prenaient soin des corps des migrants, seule cette machine a conservé sa mémoire, mais en contrepartie a endommagé le corps, qui ne peut survivre que s'il est endormi. La machine apprend à Gosseyn qu'elle avait d'abord tenté de communiquer avec Secoh, mais que ce dernier avait activé un dispositif expérimental qui lui a permis de se déphaser à volonter et devenir l'être d'ombre qu'est le disciple. Elle lui apprend aussi que Gosseyn-Lavoisseur est le seul des migrants qui a survécu (à moins que ce ne soit un descendant, ce point n'est pas clair). Gosseyn prend alors possession du corps du Dieu Endormi et force la machine à le réveiller, ce qui rend Secoh fou et met fin au Disciple. Gosseyn réintègre son corps quelques minutes plus tard, lorsque le corps du Dieu Endormi meurt.

[ Posted on October 17th, 2006 at 00:51 | no comment | ]

Monday, October 16th, 2006

Doctor Who and the Daleks

Categories: [ TV/Cinema ]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059126/

© IMDB.com

Doctor Who and the Daleks is the first Doctor Who movie. The Doctor has invented the TARDIS, a machine for travelling across time and space. The fiancee of the Doctor's niece accidentally triggers a journey to a random place and time. The travellers arrive to a planet where the vegetation has been fossilized. All but the Doctor want to go back where they come from, but the Doctor simulates a failure in the TARDIS to convice them to go and explore the city, pretending to go there and look for tools. They are made prisoners by the inhabitants of the city, the Daleks. A nuclear war has made the life on the planet almost impossible. The Daleks have then build individual, mobile protective suits that look like conical robots on invisible wheels (with an insufferable voice). They send the Doctor's grand-daughter to go and meet the Thals, the other people on the planet, who have an antidote to radiation poisoning. Their goal is to get a sample of the medicine, synthetize it themselves and get rid of their suits. The Thals, in need for food, are willing to help the Daleks and give the medicine. In return, the Daleks lure them into a trap (pretending to give them food), but the Doctor manages to warn them before they all get exterminated. Since a vital component of the TARDIS is still in the hands of the Daleks, the Doctor manages to convince them to attack the city. The fiance and a couple of Thals are entering from behind (following the pipes that bring water into the city) while the others show themselves in the front. They finally manage to enter the city and destroy the Daleks (but I don't remember how) before the latter can launch the bomb they intended to exterminate the Thals with.

[ Posted on October 16th, 2006 at 22:06 | no comment | ]

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Categories: [ TV/Cinema/Harry Potter ]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0330373/

© IMDB.com

Fourth Harry Potter movie, The Goblet of Fire starts with a scene showing Voldemort growing strong again. It then continues with the usual heroes going to the Quidditch worldcup (without actually showing any part of the game) followed by an attack of Death Eaters on the encampment where the spectators have spent the night. The heroes then go back to Hogwarts, where the usual new teacher of Defence Againts the Dark Arts (Alastor Moody) is presented, along with the visiting students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. Soon after, Dumbledore announces the Triwizard Tournament, which will oppose one champion from the previous schools plus Hogwarts and presents the Goblet of Fire where the candidats must put a paper with their names. The Goblet will later choose the three champions. Unexpectedly, the Goblet spits out four names, the last one being Harry Potter's. All his friends think he has been cheating and start to loath him. Soon after, Harry is shown by Hagrid that the first task of the tournament will be to fight dragons. Harry gets the nastiest of the four, but manages to get the golden egg it was protecting, supposedly giving him a clue about the next task. When he opens the egg, however, all that comes out is a shrieking noise. Meanwhile, their new teacher of Defence Againts the Dark Arts introduces the heroes to the three unforgivable curses (which allow torture, mind control and killing). During the Yule Bal, Ron manages to get Hermione even angrier at him. Harry later gets a tip from Cedric, his co-champion from Hogwarts, that the egg must be opened under water. The next task involves the lake and mermaids: he must dive in the lake during one hour to save his friend Ron, prisoner of the mermaids. Instead of getting immediately to the surface, he checks that all the other victims are taken up, and finally saves the sister of Fleur Delacour (the Beauxbatons' champion) who had to give up soon after the beginning of the task. He finishes last, but is still granted second place for “high morale fiber”. Meanwhile, the creative articles of the Daily Prophet about Harry increase Ron's hate towards his friend, and Harry discovers that Barty Crouch, an official from the Ministry of Magic who is supervising the tournament and has mysteriously been killed just after the second task, had sent his son to prison for being a Death Eater. Finally, it is time for the third task: the champions have to enter a labyrinth and get to the Triwizard Cup located at its center. Harry and Cedric get to the cup at the same time and find themselves transported to a cemetary where Cedric is killed by a sycophant of Voldemort, while Harry is made prisoner and a drop of his blood is used to give Voldemort back his strength. Voldemort forces Harry into a duel with him, but Harry manages to escape thanks to the help of the fantoms of his father, his mother and Cedric. When he is back in Hogwarts, he is taken away by the teacher of Defence Againts the Dark Arts, who actually is Barty Crouch Junior who had escaped form Azkaban and was drinking Polyjuice potion all the year long to look like the real Moody. Thankfully, Dumbledore and other teachers arrive just in time to save Harry. At the end of the movie, Dumbledore warns the students that Voldemort is back (although the Ministry refuses to acknoledge it), and Ron, Hermione and Harry are friends again.

The movie is mostly an action movie, jumping from one task to another, like the second movie did. One barely feels the time flowing through the school year, and the background details about Voldermort and his history are barely mentioned. In the Star Trek movie series, the odd-numbered episodes are bad while the even-numbered ones are good; in Harry Potter, it seems to be the opposite.

[ Posted on October 16th, 2006 at 22:02 | no comment | ]

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Categories: [ TV/Cinema ]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0312004/

© IMDB.com

Fourth Wallace and Gromit movie, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is about Wallace and Gromit working as pest control specialist who protect a small town from all the rabbits that want to eat the vegetables grown by the inhabitants for the coming vegetable competition. But instead of killing all these cute, fluffy little bunnies, they store them in their cellar, and the lack of space becomes a problem after they “de-rabbit” the gardens of the local Lady, organizer of the competition. Wallace then decides to brainwash the rabbits (with his latest invention) in order to make them forget their love for vegetables. The experiment fails, and Wallace creates a monster. Soon a giant rabbit, identified by the local priest as a were-rabbit, wrecks havoc in the town, eating all the vegetables. Wallace and Gromit try to catch it, but it manages to elude them. During the chase, another local noble, a hunting maniac who promised to kill the were-rabbit, discovers that the were-rabbit is actually Wallace, something that Gromit learns a bit later, just after discovering that the rabbit that was turned into a monster actually resembles Wallace in his love for cheese. During the competition, the were-rabbit reappears, the hunter tries to kill it while Gromit tries to protect it. Gromit finally wins, but Wallace seems to be dead. He is revived thanks to the smell of a very strong cheese, which also cures him from being the were-rabbit. Finally, the Lady turns her gardens into a rabbit sanctuary, for all the rabbits that Wallace and Gromit had caught.

[ Posted on October 16th, 2006 at 21:57 | 1 comment | ]

Daleks' Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D.

Categories: [ TV/Cinema ]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060278/

© IMDB.com

Second Doctor Who movie, Daleks' Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. starts with a robbery in London. A policeman is knocked out before he could have done something and fails to stop the thieves. He then enters a police public call box that happens to be the TARDIS and finds himself in London 2150 A.D. The city is destroyed, the Daleks have invaded Earth and are enslaving people to dig a well in an old mine somewhere not too far from London. Some humans are turned into robomen that serve the Daleks. Doctor Who and the policeman are taken prisoner while his niece and grand-daughter are taken by the rebels. The latter try to raid the Dalek's mothership, disguised as robomen, but the attack fails. The Doctor is free, but the niece and the policeman are still in the ship as it takes off. The rebels then flee London, while the Doctor goes on foot to the mine. The grand-daughter and another rebel try to join the other rebels, but are arrested by the Dakeks on the way and taken to the mine. Meanwhile, the niece and the policeman manage to leave the mothership unconspicuously and join the Doctor who is hiding in a toolshed on the mine's grounds. The goal of the Daleks is to explode a bomb in Earth's center to eject its metallic core, responsible for its magnetic field which is harmful to the Daleks, hence the need for human labour working deep inside the mine close to the point of convergence of the magnetic south and north poles. The Doctor then devises a plan to defeat the Daleks: if the bomb can be deflected to the old mine shaft that happens to go straight the convergence point and be connected to the Dalek's shaft with a secondary tunnel, the magnetic energy that would erupt from the ground would destroy the Daleks. While the policeman takes care of modifying the shaft to direct the bomb the tunnel, the Doctor gets himself caught on purpose by the Daleks in order to use their device transmitting orders to the robomen and turning them agains their masters. The following confusion allows the humans to escape the mine while the bomb goes exploding just where the Doctor wanted it to. The Daleks finally get eliminated. The Doctor and his friends come back to their present with the TARDIS, just in time for the policeman to arrest the robbers.

[ Posted on October 16th, 2006 at 21:54 | no comment | ]

Saturday, October 14th, 2006

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Categories: [ TV/Cinema ]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0383574/

© IMDB.com

I saw the movie some time ago and I completely forgot to post a summary, so the following is probably inaccurate.

Dead Man's Chest is the second episode of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy. The story starts with a soon-to-be-married young couple who is arrested for having helped a pirate captain in the previous episode. They escape (or are released under condition?) and try to find the pirate captain. The latter is trying to put his hands on the Dead Man's chest, which contains the heart of the captain of the Flying Dutchman. They have a map, but need a key to open the chest. The key is around the neck of the captain of the Flying Dutchman, and they manage to steal it. They finally find the pirate captain and together with the captain and a third person also looking for the heart, they finally find it. Then come the crew of the Flying Dutchman, they all flee in different directions, and the heart is taken by we-don't-know-who.

[ Posted on October 14th, 2006 at 18:13 | no comment | ]

Saturday, October 7th, 2006

Marston's Single Malt

Categories: [ Beer/Marston's ]

Single_Malt

« Brewed using 100% Golden Promise malt, one of the olders varieties of brewing barley. … full-flavoured malt, popular with Scotch Whisky distillers … all the distinctiveness of a fine single malt whisky. »

Neither bitter nor sweet, with a little something that reminded me of whisky (or was my sense of taste influenced by the name?)

Marston's Brewery, Burton upon Trent, England. 4.2% alcohol.

[ Posted on October 7th, 2006 at 12:03 | no comment | ]

Sunday, October 1st, 2006

Anti-DRM Logo

Translation: [ Google | Babelfish ]

Categories: [ Grumbling ]

http://defectivebydesign.org/en/image_list?page=2

© defectivebydesign.org

[ Posted on October 1st, 2006 at 18:23 | no comment | ]