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Journal metlin's Journal: Literary Meme (inspired by Ethelred Unraed) 25

Journal by metlin

Well, thanks to Ethelred Unraed for this one!

---

You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?

The Fireman's Manual.

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?

Ayesha from "She", by H. Rider Haggard.

The last book you bought is:

The Egyptian Book of the Dead - (The Papyrus of Ani) by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge.

The last book you read:

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, by Susanna Clarke.

What are you currently reading?

The Egyptian Book of the Dead - (The Papyrus of Ani) by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge.

Eight Lectures in Theoretical Physics by Max Planck.

Death of Chaos (part of the Saga of Recluce) by L.E. Modesitt Jr.

Five books you would take to a deserted island.

The collected journals of "Annalen Der Physik" - I'd die without having to do physics.

"The Bhagavad Gita", Hindu religious/philosophical codebook of sorts - every man needs to contemplate his existence :-)

"The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" - like EU said, everybody needs to laugh once in a while.

"Lord of the Rings by Tolkien" - what can I say? I've read this again and again and again since childhood, and it never seems to lose its charm!

Well, either the "Table of Integrals, Series and Products" by Gradshteyn and Ryzbik or "On The Shoulders of Giants" by Stephen Hawking.

---

Damn, didn't realize I was that lost a geek. :-/

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Literary Meme (inspired by Ethelred Unraed) More

Literary Meme (inspired by Ethelred Unraed)

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  • Ethelred's post wasn't 7 minutes cold, er... old!

    • What do I say, I was inspired? ;)

      It was a literary meme, just couldn't resist it!
      • O.K. It's too late for me to keep up the furious rate! I'm to bed...
        • Well, it's early morning for me and I've been up all night working on a boring paper. :-(

          But I'd be interested in knowing of your literary taste, though! So, if/when...
          • I'd probably take the Bible, and some Gene Wolfe, to a desert island.
            I've been caught with some Robert Jordan for Good Trash reading, but lately I've been reading stuff on number theory and mathematical logic.
            I'm loving Dover [doverpublications.com] for cheap, no nonsense, reading.
            • Robert Jordan isn't trash, even if prefixed with a modifier, come on! :-)

              I agree, Dover books are the best - lately, I've been buying a lot of their stuff. Cheap, good stuff.

              You should also check out their books on such things as ancient Greek texts (translated, ofcourse) and the like - quite nice. I got Plato's Republic a while ago and it's quite nice!
  • Dude, you like totally ripped off half my entries. ;-)

    And anyway it was from Ra5pu7in, who in turn got it from sielwolf, who in turn...well, I lost track at that point.

    Cheers,

    Ethelred

    • Oh come on, you ought to be proud that you share a taste similar to mine. :-p

      On the other hand, I'd not be surprised if some of the books (LoTR, HHGTTG etc) are a common thread to most Slashdotters, don't you think so?

      LoTR has a nice feel about it, almost a belonging of sorts - something that I've been unable to find in any other fictional series.

      • On the other hand, I'd not be surprised if some of the books (LoTR, HHGTTG etc) are a common thread to most Slashdotters, don't you think so?

        Absolutely not. I am the only person to have read LOTR and truly understood it. All others are merely impostors, and my crack team of foam-at-the-mouth lawyers will be dealing with them shortly.

        However, in your case I am willing to forgive you if you swear utter and total fealty to me as your liege. Insane eye-rolling lunatic dictators need good physicists to exec

  • metlin: [slashdot.org] Trillian looks like a housewife and not an astrophysicist

    Uhm. I am pretty sure most astrophysicists do look like housewives. Now that I think of it, the movie Trillian looks a bit like my first-year Linear Algebra I teacher. She's not that different from my friend Annelie, who's majoring in Astrophysics, either.

    What were you expecting?
    • Ya. The Trillian in the new movie reminds me of a girl I went to school with and had a major crush on. Which, come to think of it, is how I pictured Trillian to be anyway. Smart, independent, flip, and of course nice to look at. Oh yes, and brunette, and not a blonde bimbo like in the old BBC version.

      'Sides, what's wrong with looking like a housewife? Better to have a woman look like a housewife (preferably one with some brains) than some floozy.

      I harrumph metlin and his heretic rantings. Even if I'm af

      • Well, I do not know - Trillian in the movie looks smart and goodlooking, but definitely not independent nor flip. I kinda had a rebel Trillian in mind, if you know what I mean.

        As for my heretic rantings, I say this to you - bah! Hollywood has yet again screwed up yet another of my favourite books. :-/

        Come on Ethelred, you can't possibly tell me that you'd want to watch that movie. Every HHGTTG fan that I've talked to has spoken of it in despicable words of creative origin.

        Damn, let me stop before I get
        • Come on Ethelred, you can't possibly tell me that you'd want to watch that movie.

          Well, I did say "Even if I'm afraid to see the HHGTTG movie for fear of wanting to initiate use of weapons of mass destruction." ;-)

          It's especially jarring that most of the main characters seem to have an American accent. What the hell's with that? And even more scary, Trillian seems to be the bright spot of the trailers I've seen thus far...

          Sadly, it's probably inevitable that I'll see the movie, if only because 30 years

    • The thing is that Trillian is being portrayed as a party babe who just was too cool to belong to Earth and wanted to get away.

      I somehow didn't expect her to, hmm, look bland - if you know what I mean? It's not even her looks, it's more of the attitude thing - I somehow pictured Trillian to be this no-nonsense woman who'd just think she was wayy too cool to talk to anyone.

      The trailer that I saw gave a very ordinary feel to Trillian, far from the one that I had pictured.
  • I thought I'd answer [slashdot.org] too...

    • On your sig - it's actually, "I'm become Death, destroyer of Worlds."
      • It depends which translation you use, there are 3 translations:

        1. "I am become Death, destroyer of Worlds"
        2. "I am become Shiva, destroyer of Worlds"
        3. "I am become Shiva [Death], destroyer of Worlds"

        I use 2 as it's the Oppenheimer quote of the Bhagavad Gita. Usually the quotes are correctly prepended with "Now":

        "Now I am become Death, destroyer of Worlds"

        The confusion is in the interpretation of the Bhagavad Gita, because it is actually Shiva saying this. And as with most hindu God's there names are sy
        • No, actually, you misunderstand my statement - it should be Death, not Shiva.

          I happen to have been raised a Hindu (and still do hold true to some of the beliefs, at least) and speak Sanskrit.

          Which is why your sig caught my attention - besides the fact that I'd cited Bhagavad Gita as a book I'd take with me to a stranded island. =)

          That line was said by Lord Sri Krishna, when he shows Arjuna his true form, in what's called a Visva-Rupa-Darsana.

          What he actually says is -


          kalo 'smi loka-ksaya-krt pravrddh
          • Clearly the Hindu religion is why Indians are so smart. You have to be just to keep all this stuff straight. /ducks

            Cheers,

            Ethelred

            • Gee!!

              I am Indian, you insensitive clod.

              Doesn't mean much, does it? Damn!
              • I am Indian, you insensitive clod.

                What! Hindu or American? ;-)

                What was the word for "willfully obtuse" again? ;-)

                Doesn't mean much, does it? Damn!

                Of course it does. Clearly you were only capable of becoming a physicist because you understand the Bhagavad Gita. ;-)

                I am become* Ethelred, destroyer of jokes.

                Cheers,

                Ethelred

                * - Clearly Hindu gods had a rather strange grasp of verb tenses.

          • I stand corrected. And cool!

            I did actually put a little research into the quote, having had it for 9 years now, and the findings above are correct afa the internet and my research goes, but obviously wrong in as far as the truth goes. And Oppenheimer is quoted far more often saying Shiva than saying Death. Do you know specifically which he said? (It's not the Bhagavad Gita quote I'm after, but the Oppenheimer quote and if he said it incorrectly...)

            Not that I'm trying to correct you.

            And I didn't know Lord
            • No problem! :-)

              The quote that Oppenheimer said was, "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." Here is the exact diary entry --

              "We waited until the blast had passed, walked out of the shelter and then it was extremely solemn. We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita: Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince [Arjuna] that he should do his duty and to impress him he tak


              • And oh, Krishna is another avatar of Vishnu, so they're essentially the same deity.
              • Cool, I guess I'd have to change my sig now, as I've had the wrong quote for ages. I won't, although I do like all the comments I've realized that the quote has become a part of me.

                I can now however tell people that it's wrong the way it's written and will

                Thanks for the information.

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