Well, another book to the collection :D

Original title: ¿Me Pone con el Cielo?.
Author: Various.
Year: 2008.
Genre: Comedy.
Language: Spanish.
Read in: Spanish.
Publisher: Espasa.
Pages: 202.
ISBN: 978-84-670-2963-5.

Plot outline
This book doesn’t have any kind of plot, as it’s just a collection of anecdotes that happened in the call center of a phone information service.

Comment without Spoilers
The anecdotes present in this book are classified into different categories, and most of them, aside from being short, are more or less funny and curious, but not really outstanding.

The binding of the book is of good quality, being quite robust. The paper of the pages is quite white and they have a medium thickness. The quality of the printing is also good, being neat and clean.

This book is fine for a light reading or for when you don’t have a long time to focus in a more deep and intellectual book. Anyway, it’s good for having a nice time with it.

Well, so… here we have the first real post after the break I took. Let’s see if I’m still able to write at least a little bit coherently! :D

Disclaimer: I’m a Neal Stephenson fanboy, so any likeness between this post and reality may be by pure chance :P

Original title: Anathem.
Spanish title:
Author: Neal Stephenson (USA, 1959 - ).
Year: 2008.
Genre: Sci-Fi.
Language: English.
Read in: English.
Publisher: Atlantic Books.
Pages: 936.
ISBN: 978-1-84354-915-4.

Plot outline
Fraa Erasmas, an avout living in the Concent of Saunt Edhar, is preparing for the Apert, the brief time in which the Concent, a sanctuary for science and philosophy protected from the outside world, opens its doors letting the inside and the outside get mixed.

Comment without Spoilers
The narrative style is that one Neal Stephenson has has gotten us used to book after book, with a fluent and interesting flow that sets a trap from which the reader definitely can’t escape.

The story from Anathem is also really good, setting a really interesting base in the very beginning, from which the author begins to develop bit by bit until you get completely wrapped in it.

Although most of the main characters are perfectly defined, the one from which we get the deepest view is Fraa Erasmas, as the novel is supposed to be a manuscript he wrote during the events.

The scenarios shown in the novel are really well depicted and have extensive descriptions, thus allowing you to form a faithful image of them in your mind, helping you to immerse even more into the story.

A really nice detail is the definition of the different words from the world of Anathem that can be found in the beginning of each chapter, as well as the glossary at the end (in which they’re all collected), the different appendixes with technical explanations, and the chronology, which is really useful to read once you finish the book.

The edition published by Atlantic Books is simply excellent. The hardcover binding is of a great quality. The pages have a great texture both to sight and touch, and the printing is neat, clear and with the perfect size for reading.

Well, as you can see, I really enjoyed reading this book, and I greatly recommend it to everyone. Furthermore, is one of the few books of Neal Stephenson that actually has what I would call an ending!

So you know, if you have the chance, give it a try… it’s not as long as it seems :D

WARNING! SPOILERS!

For some time, in the middle of the book, I had a feeling that greatly reminded me of Footfall, a feeling that certainly I didn’t like, because it was as if I had already read that. However (anf rotunately), it didn’t last long.

By the end of the novel, when it is shown that the extraterrestrial ship contains people from the Earth, well, although is a nice (and really interesting) twist in the plot, it isn’t completely unexpected, as they keep giving small clues all along the story.

End of SPOILERS

Neal Stephenson:

• mrithail.com: Snow Crash .
• mrithail.com: The Baroque Cycle .
1. Quicksilver .
2. The Confusion .
3. The System of the World .
• mrithail.com: Anathem.

Related links:

• Wikipedia: Neal Stephenson.
• Official site: Neal Stephenson.
• Wikipedia: Anathem.
• Official site: Anathem.
• Wikia: Anathem.

Well, so it seems that again I left this blog a little bit unattended, hehe. But I have to say that I had good reasons to do so, or at least that’s what I think :P. The truth is that I was really busy both with my job and my personal life. And also with a new project that will begin from mid August.

This project will involve me leaving behind my job, my family, my friends and my home country again. And for that I will have to go back to live in Sweden, although this time in Stockholm instead of Karlskrona.

The thing is that I got a seat at the Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan (The Royal Institute of Technology) of Stockholm, to study a 2-years Master of Science in Systems, Control and Robotics. This is something I had been planning for a long time, and that has been guiding my steps for, at least, a couple of years. So I guess that right now I can say I’m incredibly happy, as everything is going almost perfectly :D

Although I have already arranged almost everything, there’s still one thing left. And it’s a thing that is as important as getting the seat aat the university! That thing is… getting a place to live in! That’s right, I have nowhere to sleep in, but I hope I’ll fix that soon (Anyway, If you think you can help me, just contact me :P ).

Aside from all that… well, I wanted you to know that I haven’t forgotten about mrithail.com, and that soon I’ll be posting again in a more or less regular way. And I say more or less because I have some trips scheduled, like, for example, going again 2 weeks to Slovakia (and Austria) by the end of the month, hehe.

Soon (like in a couple of days) you’ll have more posts to read in here. And I hope I’ll get to speed soon, because I still have some trips pending from last year (and of course, from this one).

So… see you soon!

Last update: 2009-06-24

Once again, I’m back with the schedule and the results for the Formula 1 season… But this time I’m lazy, so I won’t bother commenting the changes in the circuits and all that stuff.

The times are CET!

1 - Australian Grand Prix: Albert Park (Melbourne)
29 March, 2009 - 08:00

1. Jenson Button (Brawn-Mercedes) (=).
2. Rubens Barrichello (Brawn-Mercedes) (=).
3. Jarno Trulli (Toyota) (-17).

Pole: Jenson Button (Brawn-Mercedes).

2 - Malaysian Grand Prix: Sepang International Circuit (Kuala Lumpur)
05 April, 2009 - 11:00

1. Jenson Button (Brawn-Mercedes) (=).
2. Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) (-8).
3. Timo Glock (Toyota) (=).

Pole: Jenson Button (Brawn-Mercedes).

3 - Chinese Grand Prix: Shanghai International Circuit (Shanghai)
19 April, 2009 - 09:00

1. Sebastian Vettel (RBR-Renault) (=).
2. Mark Webber (RBR-Renault) (-1).
3. Jenson Button (Brawn-Mercedes) (-2).

Pole: Sebastian Vettel (RBR-Renault).

4 - Bahrain Grand Prix: Bahrain International Circuit (Sakhir)
26 April, 2009 - 14:00

1. Jenson Button (Brawn-Mercedes) (-3).
2. Sebastian Vettel (RBR-Renault) (-1).
3. Jarno Trulli (Toyota) (+2).

Pole: Jarno Trulli (Toyota).

5 - Gran Premio de España: Circuit de Catalunya (Catalunya)
10 May, 2009 - 14:00

1. Jenson Button (Brawn-Mercedes) (=).
2. Rubens Barrichello (Brawn-Mercedes) (-1).
3. Mark Webber (RBR-Renault) (-2).

Pole: Jenson Button (Brawn-Mercedes).

6 - Grand Prix de Monaco: Circuit de Monaco (Monte Carlo)
24 May, 2009 - 14:00

1. Jenson Button (Brawn-Mercedes) (=).
2. Rubens Barrichello (Brawn-Mercedes) (-1).
3. Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) (+1).

Pole: Jenson Button (Brawn-Mercedes).

7 - Turkish Grand Prix: Istanbul Park (Istanbul)
07 June, 2009 - 14:00

1. Jenson Button (Brawn-Mercedes) (-1).
2. Mark Webber (RBR-Renault) (-2).
3. Sebastian Vettel (RBR-Renault) (+2).

Pole: Sebastian Vettel (RBR-Renault).

8 - British Grand Prix: Silverstone Circuit (Silverstone)
21 June, 2009 - 14:00

1. Sebastian Vettel (RBR-Renault) (=).
2. Mark Webber (RBR-Renault) (-1).
3. Rubens Barrichello (Brawn-Mercedes) (+1).

Pole: Sebastian Vettel (RBR-Renault).

9 - Grosser Preis Von Deutshcland: Nürburgring (Nürburgring)
12 July, 2009 - 14:00

10 - Magyar Nagydij: Hungaroring Sport RT (Budapest)
26 July, 2009 - 14:00

11 - Grand Prix of Europe: Valencia Street Circuit (Valencia)
23 August, 2009 - 14:00

12 - Belgian Grand Prix: Spa Grand Prix S.A. (Spa-Francorchamps)
30 August, 2009 - 14:00

12 - Gran Premio D’Italia: Autodromo Nazionale di Monza (Monza)
13 September, 2009 - 14:00

13 - Singapore Grand Prix: Singapore Street Circuit (Singapore)
27 September, 2009 - 14:00

14 - Japanese Grand Prix: Suzuka International Racing Course (Suzuka)
04 October, 2009 - 14:00

15 - Grande Premio do Brasil: Autodromo Carlos Pace (Sao Paulo)
18 October, 2009 - 18:00

16 - Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Yas Marina Circuit (Yas Marina)
01 November, 2009 - 12:00

Driver Standings:

1. Jenson Button: 64.
2. Rubens Barrichello: 41.
3. Sebastian Vettel: 39.
4. Mark Webber: 35.5.
5. Jarno Trulli: 21.5.
6. Felipe Massa: 16.
7. Nico Rosberg: 15.5.
8. Timo Glock: 13.
9. Fernando Alonso: 11.
10. Kimi Räikkönen: 10.

Constructor Standings:

1. Brawn-Mercedes: 105.
2. RBR-Renault: 74.5.
3. Toyota: 34.5.
4. Ferrari: 26.
5. Williams-Toyota: 15.5.
6. McLaren-Mercedes: 13.
7. Renault: 11.
8. BMW Sauber: 8.
9. STR-Ferrari: 5.
10. Force India-Mercedes: 0.

Enjoy the season!

Formula 1:

• mrithail.com: Formula 1 - 2009: Calendar and Results.
• mrithail.com: Formula 1 - 2008: First Impressions.
• mrithail.com: Formula 1 - 2008: Calendar and Results.
• mrithail.com: End of the Formula 1 2007 Season.
• mrithail.com: Inicio de la Temporada 2007 de Formula 1 .
• mrithail.com: Formula 1 - Calendario y Resultados 2007 .
• mrithail.com: Final de la Temporada 2006 de Formula 1 .
• mrithail.com: Formula 1 - Calendario y Resultados 2006 .

Related links:

• Official site: Formula 1.

Well here I come back with the last book I read in 2008… I know it’s quite late, but better late than never!

Original title: Burning Chrome.
Spanish title: Quemando Cromo.
Author: William Gibson (USA, 1948 - ).
Content:

• Johnny Mnemonic.
• The Gernsback Continuum.
• Fragments of a Hologram Rose.
• The Belonging Kind (with John Shirley)
• Hinterlands.
• Red Star, Winter Orbit (with Bruce Sterling).
• New Rose Hotel.
• The Winter Market.
• Dogfight (with Michael Swanwick).
• Burning Chrome.

Year: 1986.
Genre: Sci-Fi, Cyberpunk.
Language: English.
Read in: Spanish.
Translation by: José Arconada and Javier Ferreira.
Publisher: Minotauro.
Pages: 200.
ISBN: 84-450-7383-4.

Plot outline
In this short stories compilation, most of the texts are unrelated, so there’s no underlying plot connecting them. The only exceptions are Johnny Mnemonic and Burning Chrome, as both of them are set in the same universe as Neuromancer .

Comment without Spoilers
This collection puts together the first stories published by William Gibson, and that appeared in different magazines and science-fiction anthologies and in them we can observe how Gibson’s particular style of narration was slowly taking shape.

Several of the stories were nominated for different science-fiction awards, such as Hugo, Negula or Locus. And those were right nominations, as the quality of some of the stories is quite astounding.

The translation by José Arconada and Javier Ferreira is not bad, but sometimes the language used and the composition of the sentences seems quite artificial. Anyway, the text is good enough for it to be enjoyable.

The edition published by Minotauro is nice, although not outstanding. The printing is mostly neat and the quality of the paper good, with very whitey pages. The binding is not as robust as one might want, but it’s a pocket edition, so you can’t expect much in there.

I personally encourage the reading of this Burning Chrome, as it’s a great way to see the initial steps of Gibson, and also of seeing how the basis of the cyberpunk genre were steadily being established in the roots of the contemporary generation of science-fiction writers.

William Gibson:

• mrithail.com: Sprawl Trilogy.
1. Neuromancer .
2. Count Zero.
3. Mona Lisa Overdrive.
• mrithail.com: Burning Chrome.
• mrithail.com: Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology.
• mrithail.com: The Difference Engine (with Bruce Sterling).

Bruce Sterling:

• mrithail.com: Burning Chrome.
• mrithail.com: Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology.
• mrithail.com: The Difference Engine (with William Gibson).

Related links:

• Wikipedia: William Gibson.
• Official site: William Gibson.
• Wikipedia: Burning Chrome.

With this video from Louvain-la-Neuve I’m done with this series of posts about Belgium… I just hope I can go back soon, you know, to be able to write some more, hehehe.

I don’t really know where were we exactly, so in the mrithail.com map I just picked a random place in Louvain-la-Neuve to place the mark. It was amazing to arrive to a party in the middle of nowhere, and see people as far as the lights allowed you to see… thousands of bodies jumping at the rhythm of the music. Just great!

And I’m sorry that my last 2 videos were so similar… just darkness, electronic music and plenty of people dancing… but hey, not everything is going to be cultural tourism, right? :D

Louvain-la-Neuve Impressions:

• mrithail.com: Louvain-la-Neuve: Impressions.
• mrithail.com videolog: Partying in Louvain-la-Neuve.

The last destination of my trip around Belgium was Louvain-la-Neuve , one of the youngest cities in Belgium, which hosts the the successor of the oldest university in Belgium.

Louvain-la-Neuve is located in the Walloon Region (that is, the French speaking part of the country), just 30 Km to the southeast of Brussels and its population is about 30,000 inhabitants, the vast majority of them being university students.

This city began to be built in 1969, and its first inhabitants arrived in 1972. The sole purpose of creating this city, was for it to host the Université Catholique de Louvain, which appeared after the split up of Catholic University of Leuven into a French and a Dutch speaking universities.

As it’s a university oriented city, Louvain-la-Neuve is full of life during the weekdays, but almost empty during the weekends, as the students take advantage of those days to get back home and visit their families.

Anyway, several new constructions, such as an exhibition center, a shopping complex and an auditorium, are destined to attract more permanent inhabitants, so the city doesn’t become so dependent from the temporary students.

One of the main points of Louvain-la-Neuve is that it is people oriented instead of automobile oriented, so the city has two different levels, being the upper one completely pedestrian; and the underground one, destined to diverse kind of automobiles.

Being the city as it is, the nightlife is great (but remember, only during the weekdays), being full of student organizations that rule dozens of bars and pubs. Also, it’s quite interesting to see the initiation rites to join those organizations.

And it’s really interesting to know that Louvain-la-Neuve hosts the biggest student party in Belgium, which is called 24 heures vélo (24 hour cycle), drawing more than 100,000 students. It’s held from 13 pm Wednesday to 13 pm Thursday usually during the fourth week of October.

So, summing up, I can say that it’s a great idea to spend a day or two during weekdays, and only for partying as much as you can, as, aside from the two-leveled streets, there’s not really much more to see. Anyway, an interesting place.

Louvain-la-Neuve Impressions:

• mrithail.com: Louvain-la-Neuve: Impressions.
• mrithail.com videolog: Partying in Louvain-la-Neuve.

Related links:

• Wikipedia: Louvain-la-Neuve.

In this occasion, I’m bringing to you a short film made by, along with others, a friend of mine who is currently studying Digital Media in Bremen (Hi Vane!).

The narration of the short is in English, but for those of you who doesn’t understand it, luckily you have subtitles in German, hehe.

Credits:

• Director: Hu Ran.
• Music and screenplay: Shen Xiaoli.
• Cast: Vanesa Cortés Rodríguez, Lee Minghay, Ahmad Saleh.
• Camera: Lee Minghay, Li Shushi.
• German subtitles: Andre Hoffmann.

I particularly like the sadness and deep insight of real life it shows… I don’t know, I find it really touching. But well, I don’t want to write any spoilers, so…

Just enjoy it!

As I said the other day, the night I spent in Brussels happened to be The White Night of the city, and there were several cultural events of different kinds in the streets.

This live session happened, I think, in Place de l’Albertine , but I’m not really sure, as I didn’t have a map and I was always letting others lead my way, hehe.

I know the video is really dark, but… hey! it was during the night! :P

Brussels Impressions:

• mrithail.com: Brussels: Impressions.
• mrithail.com videolog: The White Night ‘08, Brussels.

In my visit to Belgium, after Ghent and Bruges , of course I couldn’t miss Brussels , as a small part of it is the capital of the country (I’ll try to explain it later in the post), and one of the points where is most notable the connection between the Dutch and the French side.

Brussels is located close to the geographical center of the country, and has a population slightly higher than 1,000,000 inhabitants, being the most populated city of the country. Also, it’s the de facto capital city of the European Union.

It’s one of the 3 federated regions of Belgium (Brussels Capital-Region), and, curiously, the capital of the other 2 regions: the Flemish Region, which is the Dutch part; and the Wallon Region, which is mostly French, but it also has a German part.

However, Brussels is not the capital of Belgium, but part of it is. What does this mean? Well, according to the Belgian Constitution, the capital is the City of Brussels municipality, which is one of the 19 municipalities of Brussels.

The settlement that originated Brussels appeared circa 580, but the city wasn’t officially founded until around 979, and the county appeared around 1000. The city rapidly grew on importance as it is located in the shore of river Senne, in the important trading route connecting Bruges and Ghent with Cologne.

Brussels is an amazing city, which in its architecture mixes its impressive medieval roots with a lot of other styles, ranging to beautiful contemporary buildings, originating a great mixture.

Unfortunately, although he city is located on the shore of river Senne, the presence of water on it is not as important and impressive as it is in Ghent of Bruges. And that, at least in my opinion, is a real pity.

The weather is the typical Belgian one, completely irregular, alternating sun with heavy rain every few minutes, not letting you to get used to any stable weather. About the temperature… well, in September it was cold enough to wear a thick jacket, hehe.

As it happened in Geneve , although in a smaller scale, you can feel an important presence of foreign people in the streets, due to some important international organizations present in Brussels. Aside from that, I can say that the natives of Brussels are really nice and educated.

I can’t say much about the nightlife in here, as I only spent one night, and it happened to be Brussels’ White Night, so there were plenty of events all around the city, in its streets and squares. In a couple of days probably you’ll get to see a little bit of it.

One of the main attractions of the city is the Atomium, a a monument built for the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair. It was designed as a unit cell of an iron crystal by André Waterkeyn. It is 102 meters and is composed by nine steel spheres interconnected.

So, as you can see, I liked the city, and I think I wouldn’t mind living in here for some time. Anyway, I think that, alongside with the other Belgian cities I’ve commented here until now, it’s clearly a must see.

Brussels Impressions:

• mrithail.com: Brussels: Impressions.
• mrithail.com videolog: The White Night ‘08, Brussels.

Related links:

• Wikipedia: Brussels.
• Official site: Brussels.
• Wikipedia: City of Brussels.