Batsman of the year: In 40 international matches this year, he scored
2,539 runs, over 150 more than anyone else. In 12 months he has
scored four centuries against India, two against Bangladesh, two more
against Pakistan, and one apiece off New Zealand and South Africa. He
also had a 96* against West Indies. He has been prolific in Twenty20,
Test matches and fifty over cricket, and even coined his own shot.
Tillakaratne Dilshan has been all but unstoppable, and as well as
being the year’s best batsman, must also be the game’s most improved
player.

Blunder of the year: On the morning of 20 August, Australia decided to
leave Nathan Hauritz out of their team for the fifth Test, on a pitch
which, as every fool knew, was always going to spin. Graeme Swann
took eight wickets in the match, Australia had to cobble together 52
overs from their three part-timers. “In hindsight, a specialist
spinner would have been pretty handy out there,” reflected Ricky
Ponting afterwards. Well duh. This is an especially strong field and
special mention should also go to John Dyson, for his unique
interpretation of the Duckworth-Lewis method, and Kevin Pietersen,
for the premeditated sweep against Hauritz that got him out in the
first innings of the Ashes.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I’d love to, but I can’t” – Chris Gayle responds to a request from a
comely young female photographer that he sit with his knees together
while she took the team’s picture. As Peter Lalor joked in The
Australian, she’s still blushing now.

-guardian.uk.

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The man we know as Santa Claus has a history all his own. Keep reading to find information about the history of Santa Claus, his earliest origins, and how he became the jolly man in red that we know today.

The Legend of St. Nicholas

Saint Nicholas

Sinter Klass Comes to New York

Sinter Klaas

The name Santa Claus evolved from Nick’s Dutch nickname, Sinter Klaas, a shortened form of Sint Nikolaas (Dutch for Saint Nicholas). In 1804, John Pintard, a member of the New York Historical Society, distributed woodcuts of St. Nicholas at the society’s annual meeting. The background of the engraving contains now-familiar Santa images including stockings filled with toys and fruit hung over a fireplace. In 1809, Washington Irving helped to popularize the Sinter Klaas stories when he referred to St. Nicholas as the patron saint of New York in his book, The History of New York. As his prominence grew, Sinter Klaas was described as everything from a “rascal” with a blue three-cornered hat, red waistcoat, and yellow stockings to a man wearing a broad-brimmed hat and a “huge pair of Flemish trunk hose.”

Shopping Mall Santas

Gift-giving, mainly centered around children, has been an important part of the Christmas celebration since the holiday’s rejuvenation in the early 19th century. Stores began to advertise Christmas shopping in 1820, and by the 1840s, newspapers were creating separate sections for holiday advertisements, which often featured images of the newly-popular Santa Claus. In 1841, thousands of children visited a Philadelphia shop to see a life-size Santa Claus model. It was only a matter of time before stores began to attract children, and their parents, with the lure of a peek at a “live” Santa Claus. In the early 1890s, the Salvation Army needed money to pay for the free Christmas meals they provided to needy families. They began dressing up unemployed men in Santa Claus suits and sending them into the streets of New York to solicit donations. Those familiar Salvation Army Santas have been ringing bells on the street corners of American cities ever since.

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas

In 1822, Clement Clarke Moore, an Episcopal minister, wrote a long Christmas poem for his three daughters entitled, “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas.” Moore’s poem, which he was initially hesitant to publish due to the frivolous nature of its subject, is largely responsible for our modern image of Santa Claus as a “right jolly old elf” with a portly figure and the supernatural ability to ascend a chimney with a mere nod of his head! Although some of Moore’s imagery was probably borrowed from other sources, his poem helped to popularize Christmas Eve – Santa Claus waiting for the children to get to sleep the now-familiar idea of a Santa Claus who flew from house to house on Christmas Eve – in “a miniature sleigh” led by eight flying reindeer, whom he also named – leaving presents for deserving children. “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas,” created a new and immediately popular American icon. In 1881, political cartoonist Thomas Nast drew on Moore’s poem to create the first likeness that matches our modern image of Santa Claus. His cartoon, which appeared in Harper’s Weekly, depicted Santa as a rotund, cheerful man with a full, white beard, holding a sack laden with toys for lucky children. It is Nast who gave Santa his bright red suit trimmed with white fur, North Pole workshop, elves, and his wife, Mrs. Claus.

The Many Names of Santa

18th-century America’s Santa Claus was not the only St. Nicholas-inspired gift-giver to make an appearance at Christmastime. Similar figures were popular all over the world. Christkind or Kris Kringle was believed to deliver presents to well-behaved Swiss and German children. Meaning “Christ child,” Christkind is an angel-like figure often accompanied by St. Nicholas on his holiday missions. In Scandinavia, a jolly elf named Jultomten was thought to deliver gifts in a sleigh drawn by goats. English legend explains that Father Christmas visits each home on Christmas Eve to fill children’s stockings with holiday treats. Pere Noel is responsible for filling the shoes of French children. In Russia, it is believed that an elderly woman named Babouschka purposely gave the wise men wrong directions to Bethlehem so that they couldn’t find Jesus. Later, she felt remorseful, but could not find the men to undo the damage. To this day, on January 5, Babouschka visits Russian children leaving gifts at their bedsides in the hope that one of them is the baby Jesus and she will be forgiven. In Italy, a similar story exists about a woman called La Befana, a kindly witch who rides a broomstick down the chimneys of Italian homes to deliver toys into the stockings of lucky children.

Rudolph: The Ninth Reindeer

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

In 1939, May wrote a Christmas-themed story-poem to help bring holiday traffic into his store. Using a similar rhyme pattern to Moore’s “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,” May told the story of Rudolph, a young reindeer who was teased by the other deer because of his large, glowing, red nose. But, When Christmas Eve turned foggy and Santa worried that he wouldn’t be able to deliver gifts that night, the former outcast saved Christmas by leading the sleigh by the light of his red nose. Rudolph’s message—that given the opportunity, a liability can be turned into an asset—proved popular. Montgomery Ward sold almost two and a half million copies of the story in 1939. When it was reissued in 1946, the book sold over three and half million copies. Several years later, one of May’s friends, Johnny Marks, wrote a short song based on Rudolph’s story (1949). It was recorded by Gene Autry and sold over two million copies. Since then, the story has been translated into 25 languages and been made into a television movie, narrated by Burl Ives, which has charmed audiences every year since 1964.

Yes, kiddies, Santa is smoking...bad Santa!

Back to Happy Holidays Main Page

Happy Xmas

Free call pick up and delivery.

No contracts required. One-time service / weekly service / monthly service (your choice).

Up to 50 Items of Clothing. Any of the following items: shirts, jeans,pants, skirts, blouses, dresses, linens, etc.

Please call 561-290-0432

Currently servicing:

Boca Raton
Delray Beach
Hillsboro Beach
Pompano Beach
Deerfield Beach
Coral Springs
Coconut Creek
Parkland
West Boca
Lauderdale Lakes
Wilton Manors
East Fort Lauderdale

Does not include:  South and West Broward, North Palm Beach or Miami.

No checks, please.

The Fall – Theme From Sparta F.C

Not a lot of words, but a few cute pictures for you. Our very-camera-savvy board member, Renee, is going to take some new photos tomorrow – and I can guarantee we’ll have better results! But for now …

Miss Lexie:

Aspen:

Stella:

And Clarke (who really wasn’t into the whole dress-up thing this year):

More photos to come soon – promise!

Cheers!

This company has recently been added on Expopedia, the tradefair service finder. Visit our website for more information.

Sternberg Clarke
Wandsworth High Street 140
SW18 4JJ Wandsworth (United Kingdom)
More information about Sternberg Clarke …

An overview of the available activities for Sternberg Clarke …

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Meet sweet Clarke, formerly known as “cage07″. This sweet, shy boy was rescued from a kill shelter in Christiansburg, Virginia. He was brought into the shelter as a stray in early November after MONTHS on the run with his sister. His sister was adopted within days, but Clarke was in the shelter for three weeks before we found out about this boy. This photo is the first one that we saw of Clarke, and the photo that broke our heart. After his months on the run, it was clear that Clarke was obviously terrified in the shelter. Having to depend only on himself for the past few months left this sweet guy very wary of humans.

After his sister was adopted, the rescue volunteers at the shelter worked to get Clarke into a rescue group. We saw his photo, committed to taking this “project pup” on, and got to work on transporting Clarke to rescue in Richmond, VA. Clarke arrived the Wednesday before Thanksgiving after a rocky three and a half hour road trip with Courtney’s mom, Mary. Clarke was so nervous in the car that every time Mary tried to pet him, he cowered in the corner placing his body as far away from her as possible. 

On day one in rescue, Clarke was incredibly fearful of everyone he met though he showed no signs of aggression. After many hours of sweet talking, treats, and a ton of TLC from Courtney’s younger siblings – Clarke started to come around! Four days later, Clarke is happy and content hanging out in his crate, gobbles down his breakfast and dinner like a champ, and LOVES to romp and play in the back yard with the other pups. Clarke is learning how to walk on the leash, learning “good puppy manners”, and learning how to be an inside dog. This guy really feels like he’d leading a life of luxury these days. He’s often found crashed out on one of our huge dog beds or lounging in front of the fireplace. Clarke has really bonded with his foster siblings and is so happy to run and play with them. He’s coming around with people, too! Clarke met two new people today and warmed up to them fairly quickly. Don’t get me wrong, Clarke still has some definitely fear of humans – but we’re working hard to expose him to lots of different people and situations and help him build his confidence in people again. We have no doubt that with a whole lot more love and attention that this sweet boy is going to flourish and know that humans just mean “love,love, love (and treats!)”. Clarke has a vet visit on Tuesday for a general wellness checkup and a heartworm test. Please keep your fingers crossed that we’ll have happy results.

Shadow Business Secretary Ken Clarke is due to speak to the business community in Aberdeen on Friday…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: city center. The blog is also related to: major city.

MC300-MS7 York-Sunbury Historical Society Collection
Description (page 121)

If you are interested in any of these files then please contact the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.

“The documents in this series were kept by two brothers, William Henry Street and John Ambrose Sherman Street, who were born in Burton, Sunbury County, the sons of Hon. Samuel Deny Street and Abigail Freeman.  They were educated at public schools in Burton and Fredericton.

William Henry Street was born April 11, 1793.  After completing his education, he engaged in the mercantile business in Saint John.  He was twice mayor of Saint John (1835-1836 and 1848-1849) and served in the militia.  In the General Election of 1842, he ran for Saint John City and, after protest, was awarded the seat.  He sat until the dissolution of the House in 1846 when he retired from politics.  W.H. Street was married twice: in 1824 to Mary Bruce, and in 1847 to Sarah Boyd Orr.  He died in Saint John on April 4, 1875.

John Ambrose Sherman Street was born September 22, 1795.  He studied in his father’s law office and was admitted to the New Brunswick Bar on February 22, 1817.  He practiced law at Chatham, Northumberland County, and in 1823 married Jane Isabella Hubbard.  He was elected to the Assembly as a Conservative member for Northumberland County at a by-election in 1833.  He sat in the House almost continuously until his defeat in 1856.  He then moved to Fredericton and unsuccessfully ran for York County in 1861 and 1865.  He was made a member of the Executive Council in 1851, and served as Attorney-General until 1854.  He died in 1865.

The Street Records pertain to the legal and business affairs of the brothers.  The material is catalogued alphabetically according to client’s name.  The types of documents found here include: indentures, deeds, declarations, bonds, assignments, correspondence, and leases.  The material dates from 1812 to 1863.  This series measures 9 centimeters.”

1 Bedell, George A.; Woodstock, 1855-1862.

2 Betts, David and Levi; Newcastle, 1831.

3 Bowman, William, and Daniel Campbell; Liverpool England, 1845.

4 Chisholm, Patrick; Northesk, 1828.

5 Clarke, Alexander; Nelson Parish, 1828-1831.

6 Clarke, Richard Samuel, High Sheriff, for land of William Matchett to Oliver Stringer; James Vye to John, Alexander and James Fraser; Charles McDonald and Ronald Davidson to James McDonald and William Ravinscroft.  Dennis Cochran, Samuel Porter to James D. Berton; William and Elizabeth Murray; and Thomas and Alexandra Wilson; Northumberland County, 1825-1832.

7 Crookshank, Robert W.; Saint John, 1826-1852.

8 Cunard, Henry; Newcastle, 1836.

9 Davidson, Allan, William, John and Phineas; Newcastle Parish, 1824-1847.

10 Hooper, Nehemiah Story; St. Mary’s Parish, 1851-1857.

11 Jardine, Alexander, Robert Jardine and Barnabas Tilton; Saint John City, 1849.

12 Johnson, John M, High Sheriff, for lands of Patrick Flannigan, and Alexander Clarke; Northumberland County, 1841.

13 Kerr, George, of Newcastle, for lands of John Kerr, John Mayes, and Jane Matthew to John Walker; Jeremiah Newman; Alexander Fraser Jr., George McGuigor, and Joseph Saunders; Andrew and James Grant; William Henry Moore; Northumberland County, 1828-1843.

14 Kirk, James; Saint John City, 1847.

15 Matthew, George; Saint John City, 1812-1850.

16 Mersereau, Jacob; Blackville Parish, 1831-1837.

17 Miller, Edward, High Sheriff, and William Grigor for lands of George A. Munro; York County, 1843.

18 Mitchell, Peter and Barbara, and William and Isabella Masson; Newcastle, 1828.

19 Moore, William Henry, and Patrick Keho and Alexander Fraser Jr.; Parish of Chatham, 1824-1826.

20 McDermott, John; Blackville Parish, 1842.

21 McKay, Donald and Zilpah; 1825.

22 McLaggan, Alexander; Blackville, 1850-1862.

23 New Brunswick and Nova Scotia Land Company for lands of George Barrett; Stanley, 1847.

24 Rankin, Alexander, (William Bedell, W.H. Shore, Francis Ferguson, George and John Monroe); Miramichi, 1833-1855.

25 Spencer, John; Ludlow, 1841.

26 Spahn, Justin; 1856.

27 Small, Otis; Saint John, 1845.

28 Street, Louisa Isabella; William Woodbridge Street; Rev. Charles Frederic Street; John Ambrose Street; and George D. Street; Newcastle, 1845.

29 Sutter, Byron, John Connelly, Allan Lyons, and Alexander Davidson; Miramichi, 1839.

30 Walker, John, James Robertson and Mary Green; Saint John, 1840.

31 Worrall, George William; Saint John, 1847.

32 Young, James, Alexander McLean, Alexander McLaggan, and Neil McLean; Nashwaak, 1852.

33 Miscellaneous items; 1847-1863. 

Just wondering whether it will be “Pup” or “Punter” for the next Ashes revenge .  I think  Ricky should still lead coz  he will be thirsting for revenge and he wud want to retire with the Ashes safely back in his backyard. Also ” Pup” is still not too mature and ready to take over the mantle of leadership

Hola a todos.

Otro Miércoles más y otra banda sonora que nos toca ver hoy. Como veis el blog últimamente se ha nutrido de algunas nuevas incorporaciones. Espero que las aportaciones de Aviron como de Repelux os gusten tanto como a mí.

Al margen de las felices, felices novedades, vamos a introducirnos en materia una vez más.

Dead Space señoras y señores. Dead Space.

Hace algunos meses os contaba como este juego se había ganado totalmente mis respetos, pero cuanto más tiempo pasa más aprecio le tengo. Así que hoy vamos a rendir un mini-homenaje posteando su BSO aquí, en GameOP.

A grandes rasgos podríamos comentar cada pista como una melodía situacional ya que la mayor parte de ellas hacen referencia a momentos concretos del propio juego. Aun así, cabe hacer una descripción igualmente desvinculada de la acción que se desarrolle ya que las canciones pueden valorarse de la misma forma.

Existe un número importante de pistas que se centran en la tensión más pura, en los enfrentamientos, persecuciones y otras escenas peliagudas que resolver. Momentos de vida o muerte en los que perfectamente se orquestan los golpes de sonido punzantes una y otra vez, comúnmente simbolizados por los instrumentos de cuerda. Las notas más graves están dedicadas al viento, generando muchas veces pautas y sonidos atronadores que recuerdan a las composiciones de la saga God Of War. Destaca también, uno de los puntos que más me gustan personalmente, el uso de los sonidos metálicos que nos vinculan perfectamente a la ambientación espacial de Dead Space. El choque intermitente y agudo de las herramientas, de la maquinaria, del propio Isaac caminando por el Ishimura, nos recuerda continuamente en donde estamos y cual es el mundo que nos rodea.

El ritmo está fuertemente marcado y se convierte muchas veces en una especie de acoso, buscando tensionar y poner más nervioso al jugador. En ocasiones puede recordarnos fácilmente a las composiciones más clásicas del cine de terror como Tiburón o Psicosis. Creo que con esto podéis haceros una idea fácil de lo que trata el asunto.

Para muchos será una BSO en donde se han pegado diferentes hilos musicales pertenecientes a distintos grados de acción y desarrollo del juego. Sin embargo podemos extraer la raíz de todas ellas: tensión, frenetismo y acoso musical en todos los sentidos.

Podéis darle una oportunidad siempre y cuando la escuchéis en dosis adecuadas. No son composiciones para echarse una siesta ni mucho menos.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=O41S7ZG0

¡Saludos!

Ik ben afgelopen week dan eindelijk begonnen met het werken aan een analyse van (in mijn ogen) de beste film ooit gemaakt. Het is een redelijk karwei als ik het goed inschat en het gaat op z’n minst nog 3 maanden duren voordat het helemaal af is. De grote lijnen zijn op dit moment in ieder geval uitgezet en het schrijfwerk is begonnen. Hopelijk vergeeft een ieder mij dat hier iets minder wordt geplaatst de komende weken omdat ik een flinke portie van mijn tijd kwijt zal zijn aan dit project.

Als je het een leuk idee vind kun je me altijd laten weten wat jouw gedachten zijn over “2001” en wat jij denkt dat er sowieso in het boekje zou moeten komen te staan. Ik sta open voor suggesties, opmerkingen, vragen en andere dringende zaken die aandacht verdienen omtrent de analyse van deze film.

Heb je de film nog niet gezien? Haal hem dan een keer uit de schappen bij de eerste beste dvd of blu-ray winkel in de buurt. Voor nog geen tien euro heb je hem al te pakken.

Let me know what you think about the project!

Marc

NB: Ik zal af en toe kleine stukjes proberen te plaatsen wanneer ze zo goed als af zijn zodat jullie een goede indruk krijgen van het geheel.

So long as the ideas keep flowing, I’ll keep writing. That’s my mantra for NaNoWriMo. I’ve been to two Write-ins so far, and while the first wasn’t so productive (it seems our venue has a weekly Jazz Band playing on Wednesday nights) the Saturday one saw me write a massive 1,200 words in the space of two hours.

I’m currently in no shortage of ideas, I have a clear plan for where the novel is going, even if it’s not crystalised completely. The setup is almost done (13,000 words and I’ve not even gotten to the ‘incident’ that shapes the story) and I’ve got a chapter-by-chapter plan for the first 2/3rds of the book (atleast, the main themes for each chapter, what they introduce and what questions are raised)

I’ve faced a few challenges so far. One of which is avoiding boring Info-Dump monologues that litter the sci-fi genre. I’ve gotten to chapter 6 without one, trying to explain the world through a mixture of imagery and exposition rather than reading like a textbook. Although it’s been a narrow escape with chapter 5, which nearly turned into one long conversation with no development of character. I decided to split it into two, with a short pace-changing chapter between them.

Another challenge facing me is the fact that I’ve not done any real creative writing since School. It’s been a good 7 years ago atleast since I wrote anything, and even then it’s always been one of those short “well done, Gold Star” style affairs.

If you’ll indulge me, I’ll regail you all now with a little history of me and books.

At school, I was nearly put off reading entirely by a rather… lecherous… English teacher in my final year. One who would rather oggle the maturing young woman in my class than help a student in need. Incidently, he was the only Male English teacher I had so maybe he wasn’t unique.

Luckilly, but not immediately obvious, Dr Asimov came to my rescue. During that year we had to choose a book to do our final essay on. I chose Foundation. I was never really enamoured with it, and didn’t really read it. I realise now, with full 20-20 hindsight, that I’d rather read a book and enjoy it, than be forced to read a book and analyse it.

It was only two years later, when I was at University that I spotted the sequel, Foundation and Empire in Ottakars (Sadly now owned by Waterstones) and rediscovered a love of Science Fiction. I bought each of the sequels, and the a few Robot novels (including The Complete Robot). It was a good time to buy as my Student card got me a whopping 90p off each book. Enough for a round at the Student Union.

By mid 2004 I had a sizeable collection of Asimov books, but somewhere along the line I had lost my original Foundation novel. I returned to Ottakars to see if they had it (This was at the same time as the 2004 ‘film’ was doing the rounds) and lo and behold they did. I took it to the cash desk and the guy behind the counter looked at me and said “Were you looking for I, Robot? I’m afraid we’re sold out,”

I was quite taken aback, I looked him in the eye and said, “No, this is the one I was looking for,” he returned a knowing smile. We exchanged vitriol over the film adaptation while he rung up the book. Incidently, I don’t think I bought another book from that store before it closed.

I found Prelude to Foundation in Waterstones, and in it was a whole list of books in the Foundation/Robots series, including three books in the middle (the Empire novels) that were currently out of print. Once I had finished the book, I sought out to find these missing novels on the internet.

I managed to get old, battered and well read copies of Pebble in the Sky, The Currents of Space, and The Stars, Like Dust on Amazon.

Eventually I had a library full of Asimov. I realised that I wanted to read more, but couldn’t, because I had everything Asimov that was worth reading.

I eventually purchased a number of classics, Farenheight 451 by Ray Bradbury, Do androids dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick and a compliation of all of Arthur C. Clarkes Short Stories. On the back of that one I began reading Clarkes joint efforts with Stephen Baxter, of which Times Eye is undoubtably the best. (I put it down to Clarke having more influence over the direction the novel took, before his health deteriorated, while the others were more Baxter)

Somewhere in the middle of all this I read the Hitchickers Guide to the Galaxy’s Trilogy of Four. (I know it’s more now)

One thing I’ve noticed is that all of these have influenced my writing style. From Clarke’s grounded-in-reality near-futurism to Asimov’s plotlines of intrigue and lies (Caves of steel and the likes were just Detective novels set in the future) to DNA’s near insanity. Sometimes it’s a struggle to keep the story going in one direction without veering off wildly like H2G2, sometimes I start explaining things in depth too much like Clarke (despite me having but a light grasp of astronomy and engineering) and then trying to reign it back for fear of boring the reader with technobabble.

Hell, I’ve written 900 words on this blog post… *beats self up* Get back to writing!

Phone: 954 603 8772.
Please leave a message and you will be contacted ASAP.

A/C not fixed = $20 (diagnosis/service)
If your air conditioning (A/C) is not fixed, the charge $20 to diagnose the problem.

A/C fixed + No parts = $50
(If your A/C is fixed and no parts are needed, the charge is $50 total.You will not pay more than $50 unless parts need to be purchased.)

A/C fixed + Parts = $50 + Cost of parts.
If your A/C is fixed and parts are needed, the charge is $50 + the cost of the parts.

Please note: Freon/refrigerant is a part and is not included in the service fee.

This is not an hourly fee – the labor fee is $50 no matter how long the repair takes. The charge is $20 if the A/C is not fixed.

Please note that the following services are not currently being offered: 1) coil change-outs, 2) compressor change-outs and 3) installations.

Here is a list of cities currently being serviced:

Boca Raton
Coconut Creek
Coral Springs
Deerfield Beach
Fort Lauderdale
Hillsboro Beach
Lauderdale Lakes
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
Lauderhill
Lighthouse Point
Margate
North Lauderdale
Oakland Park
Parkland
Pompano Beach
Tamarac
Wilton Manors

South Broward, West Broward and Miami-Dade County are not currently serviced.

Here is a list of some of the units that may be repaired…
- Commercial A/C units
- Residential A/C units
- Split A/C units
- Package A/C units
- Wall A/C units
- Window A/C units

Please note: Personal Checks and Business Checks are not accepted as payment at this time.

If you can’t call, feel free to email your phone number to the email address at the top of this listing and you will be contacted ASAP.

Any and all air conditioners have a possibility of repair.

Here are some (but not all) brands that repairs are possible for..
Goodman, Trane, Carrier, York, Rheem, Ruud, Fujistsu, American Standard, Lennox, Mitsubishi, Bryant, Payne, Duchane, Fedders, Heil, Janitrol, Armstrong, GE, General Electric, Honeywell, Amana, Comfortmaker, Tempstar, Briggs & Stratton, Kohler, Guardian, Generac.

License # CAC014666

10. Brave New World
Aldous Huxley

Huxley’s future world where genetic engineering dictates the laws and structure of society is truly haunting and full of foresight. His tale is the struggle of individualism in a world where people are are literally born and raised to be a particular person and everyone is kept in line. Values are the opposite of what many may believe them to be; monogamy is forbidden for example. This is one of the greatest dystopian novels of the last century, showing the consequences of a constant pursuit for happiness which sacrifices the spirit of the individual.

9. The Forever War
Joe Haldeman

One of the great advantages of using the science fiction and fantasy genres to tell a story is that the author can take a relevant theme, such as war and humanity, and can take it out of its natural setting of this world which allows us to see them from a different perspective and break those themes down and examine them further. This is what Joe Haldeman does with the Forever War, taking the current relevancy to the Vietnam War of that time and putting it in the setting of a war with an Alien race.

8. Nightfall
Issac Asimov

One of the most influential short stories ever written for the science fiction genre by one of the genres great masters. In Nightfall, Asimov describes a solar system with 6 stars, where darkness is a virtual unknown. Nightfall has been called the greatest sci-fi short story ever and helped build the foundation of modern day science fiction.

7. Ender’s Game
Orson Scott Card

Ender’s Game is the story of a young genius who is being groomed as the commander of Earth’s space fleet against an invading alien race. The book follows the boy’s training while describing a world which has been very loosely united through the threat of a common alien foe. This story does come with some critical controversy; some are highly bothered by the fact that Ender’s actions have no consequences, while others describe Ender’s Game as ‘geek porn’. However, only literature with the kind of substance and magic that Ender’s Game has would be able to stir up those controversies. It is a highly engaging story and a solidly constructed piece of sci-fi storytelling.

6. Stranger in a Strange Land
Robert A. Heinlein

Stranger in a strange land was able to use science fiction to explore themes of alienation, culture clashes, and individual freedom. Heinlein’s story of a man who was born as a Martian and returns to Earth transcended the the science fiction readers and brought in readers of other literary genres. Now it is aconsiddered one of the most popular classics sci-fi has to offer and one of its greatest achievements.

5. Nineteen Eighty-Four
George Orwell

In a futuristic world where the government controls everything and Big Brother is always watching you, a man struggles to maintain individual freedom and creative expression. Orwell’s masterpiece plays upon the fears of mankind concerning higher powers and state control in a way that it has become ingrained our very thinking about these issues. It is a haunting look at a world set in the not-so-distant future, all the more haunting because the possibility of that world coming into being is within the realm of believability.

4. The Time Machine
H. G. Wells

H.G. Wells is often considered the father of science fiction, and The Time Machine is perhaps his most acclaimed novel. Wells uses the concept of time travel to explore the future of mankind, which has actually evolved into two different races. The reason for this may seem obvious to some and up for debate to others. The future that Wells describes and how things got to be that way is a feast of scientific speculation. The Time Machine is one of the first science fiction novels and still one of the greatest.

3. Rendezvous with Rama
Aurthur C. Clarke

Science fiction has varying degrees within the genre, and many fans describe sci-fi as being either soft or hard; hard meaning that there is a lot of emphasis on the actual science involved in the story. Clarke was a master of hard science fiction and perhaps never showed off this mastery more than with Rendezvous with Rama. The story describes Earth’s encounter with a mysterious spacecraft, delving into the mysteries of the universe beyond our own knowledge. It has been an influence on countless sci-fi stories since, the most obvious of which are the first Star Trek movie, Alien, and Michael Chrichton’s Sphere. However, most sci-fi writers have been influenced by Clarke’s genius, which shows up very strongly here with Rama.

2. Dune
Frank Herbert

Dune is the Lord of the Rings of science fiction. Herbert’s world is intricate in its details and extensive in its scope while the story is layered in themes. The world of Dune is rich with individual cultures, mythologies, and customs and is so descriptive it’s as though Herbert actually visited the world and recorded what he saw rather than created it from his mind. Dune deals with politics and socioeconomics as well as the depths of the human soul and how one man deals with his fate and how to cope with losing all you once had. Dune is a rich novel which will last in the higher echelon of sci-fi for many years to come.

1. The Foundation Trilogy
Issac Asimov

From the master of science fiction, Asimov’s massive and epic Foundation series has become the cornerstone of science fiction literature. It is the only series to win the Hugo all-time best series award. The story deals with the link between science and civilization and the struggle to retain and preserve knowledge. Foundation has had a huge impact and influence on all science fiction to come after in books, film, and television. It is the best and most important work of science fiction by one of the genre’s great writers.

Diese Weblog ist zu einem Seminar, das im SS 2009 an der LMU München stattgefunden hat. Man kann die Einträge hier kaum verstehen, wenn man nicht die Texte kennt, die im Seminar gelesen wurden. Es sind:

• 15.5.  Van Inwagen, Peter  (2000)  “Free Will Remains a Mystery”, in Tomberlin 2000, 1-19. Reprinted in Kane 2002, erster Teil
• 22.5.  Van Inwagen (2000)   Fortsetzung: akteurstheoretischer Teil
• 29.5.   Clarke, Randolph (2003)  Libertarian Accounts of Free Will. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ch. 10, erster Teil
• 5.6.  Clarke (2003)  ch. 10, zweiter Teil
• 12.6  Jaskolla (Referat zu Whitehead und freiem Willen)
• 19.6  Schneider (eigener Text)
• 26.6.  O’Connor, Timothy (2002b) “Libertarian Views: Dualist and Agent-Causal Theories” in Kane 2002a: 337-355.
• 3.7.  Kontrolle I   Strawson Galen (2002), “Bounds of Freedom”. in Kane 2002a:  441–460
• 10.7.    Kontrolle II    Markus Ernst Schlosser (2008) “Agent-Causation and Agential Control”. Philosophical Explorations 11 (1): 3 – 21.