Omelette

I've had a longstanding argument with a certain someone about how funny British comedy is. She refuses to watch the Inbetweeners, was indifferent to Dara's awesome show and is, generally, a fervent supporter of State-side stuff. I am however known for my stubbornness, so I will keep trying, until she converts (or stops talking to me...)

You have to love the facial expressions and naivety of the waitress, right? 

A blast from the past #3 - Part 4

Blast from the past indeed, as I've been too busy to update the blog for a couple of months now. Anyway, here's the final part of the super-duper-cool TV cartoon series I used to watch when I was growing up (oh, well, and still do).

(23) Silverhawks



(24) Starblazers (a.k.a. Space Battleship Yamato)



(25) Starcom



(26) Thunderbirds 2086 



(27) Thundercats



(28) Thundersub (a.k.a. Space Carrier Blue Noah)



(29) Transformers



(30) Ulysses 31



(31) Visionaries



(32) Voltron



(33) X-Men

The Fifth Solvay International Conference, 1927

If you are a physicist, or work in a Physics-related field, or simply like the stuff, you either cry or get a boner when you look at the picture below (don't ask me where I stand...)

If you, on the other hand, hate Physics or are otherwise not-normal, all you see is a bunch of serious looking guys in tuxedos... and a not-so-fashionable woman. So, you might as well stop reading now.

Taken in Leopold Park in Brussels in October 1927, during the Fifth Solvay International Conference, it depicts the most intelligent group of people ever to grace a photograph. 17 of the 29 attendees were or became Nobel Prize winners!

Who are they? Well, I'm certain that everyone can recognise the guy sitting in the middle of the front row (Albert Einstein, duh). Depending on your relation to science, you might be able to at least guess the identity of the only woman in the picture (Madam Curie, of course). And, while you will most likely not recognise the guy standing in the middle of the back row, you have probably heard of his... cat! Indeed, that is Erwin Schrödinger.

So, shall we meet the rest of the people who have effectively shaped the world as we know it today?

NPP = Nobel Prize in Physics

NPC = Nobel Prize in Chemistry

FRONT ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT

Irving Langmuir (American, 1881-1957, NPC: 1932) 

Max K. E. L. Planck (German, 1858-1947, NPP: 1918) 

Marie Skłodowska-Curie (Polish/French, 1867-1934, NPP: 1903, NPC: 1911)

Hendrik A. Lorentz (Dutch, 1853-1928, NPP: 1902) 

Albert Einstein (German, 1879-1955, NPP: 1921)

Paul Langevin (French, 1872-1946)

Charles-Eugène Guye (Swiss, 1866-1942)

Charles T. R. Wilson (Scottish, 1869-1959, NPP: 1927)

Owen W. Richardson (English, 1879-1959, NPP: 1928)

MIDDLE ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT

Peter J. W. Debye (Dutch/American, 1884-1966, NPC: 1936)

Martin H. C. Knudsen (Danish, 1871-1949)

William L. Bragg (British, 1890-1971, NPP: 1915)

Hendrik A. Kramers (Dutch, 1894-1952)

Paul A. M. Dirac (English, 1902-1984, NPP: 1933)

Arthur H. Compton (American, 1892-1962, NPP: 1927)

Louis V. P. R. de Broglie (French, 1892-1987, NPP: 1929)

Max Born (German, 1882-1970, NPP: 1954)

Niels Bohr (Danish, 1885-1962, NPP: 1922)

BACK ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT

Auguste A. Piccard (Swiss, 1884-1962)

Émile Henriot (French, 1885-1961)

Paul Ehrenfest (Austrian/Dutch, 1880-1933)

Édouard Herzen (Belgian, 1877-1936)

Théophile E. de Donder (Belgian, 1872-1957)

Erwin R. J. A. Schrödinger (Austrian, 1887-1961, NPP: 1933)

Jules-Émile Verschaffelt (Belgian, 1870-1955)

Wolfgang E. Pauli (Austrian, 1900-1958, NPP: 1945)

Werner K. Heisenberg (German, 1901-1976, NPP: 1932)

Ralph H. Fowler (English, 1889-1944)

Léon N. Brillouin (French, 1889-1969)

OK, so, you've read the names, but you still have no idea who they are. Let's have a quick look at a selected few:  

Planck (in my humble view, a titan among giants) was the one who conceived the idea of quantums ("the most revolutionary idea which ever has shaken physics" according to Max Born) paving the way for the creation of Quantum Mechanics (QM).  

Dirac (in my humble view, another titan among giants) (i) introduced his eponymous equation which allows for the accurate description of the behaviour of all elementary matter particles, (ii) introduced the nowadays globally used formalism of QM and (iii) predicted the existence of anti-matter.  

Bohr (whose hydrogen atom model was the first QM model), Kramers, Born (whose probabilistic interpretation of Schrödinger's  wave function ended determinism in physics),  Pauli (whose Exclusion Principle explains the periodic table of elements), Heisenberg (whose Uncertainty Principle lies at the core of QM), de Broglie (who introduced the wave-particle duality) and Schrödinger (whose wave-function equation is one of the most fundamental in QM), along with Dirac developed the theory of Quantum Mechanics.  

Lorentz came up with the eponymous transformations, a key ingredient in Einstein's Special Relativity Theory.

Curie, was the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize, one of only four individuals to have won more than one NP and one of only two individuals to have won more than one NP in different fields. She died of radiation poisoning, a result of her work.

TRIVIA:

Einstein's Nobel Prize was for the explanation of the Photoelectric Effect. He never received a Nobel for his Relativity Theories.

Piccard was the inspiration for the character of Professeur Tryphon Tournesol in the comic book series "The Adventures of Tintin" by Belgian cartoonist Hergé.

A blast from the past #3 - Part 3

Moar series, moar...

(13) G.I.Joe



(14) He-Man



(15) Kabamaru



(16) Lazer Tag Academy



(17) Locke



(18) M.A.S.K.



(19) Plawres Sanshiro (aka Juohmaru)



(20) Robotech



(21) Saber Rider



(22) She-Ra


One more part to come...

WTF news #4...

Taking a small break from "Blast from the Past" to share this innovative teaching method which ensures full cooperation from your students, by threatening to reveal... spoilers from their favourite series!

Read and enjoy!

A blast from the past #3 - Part 2

The list continues...

(5) Captain Power



(6) Centurions 



(7) Defenders of Space (aka Phoenix King)



(8) Dinosaucers



(9) Dragonball



(10) Dungeons & Dragons



(11) Gargoyles



(12) Getter Robo


Jealous yet?

A blast from the past #3 - Part 1

Blast from the past continues with awesome TV cartoon series. This is going to be a multi-parter, simply because there were so many of them.

This list contains cartoon series that we used to get on the telly in Greece, or (at most) at the local video shop - in VHS format, naturally... Stuff like file-sharing and DVD-rips did not exist back then, so you didn't have many options as to what to watch.

Now, I know that everyone has a special connection to the cartoons he or she was watching as a child and feels sort of indifferent towards other cartoons that came before or after. One might still appreciate the before-after cartoons for their theme or their animation, but they do not evoke the certain stirring feeling you get when watching and old favourite; you know, the "Oh my God, I used to watch this when I was 8!" sort of thing...

Having said that, I honestly believe that all the cartoons on this list really are the créme de la créme of cartoons E V E R! Later productions cannot even begin to compare with these gems. Again, this judgement is based solely on what I used to get on TV versus what later generations got on TV. Growing up in Greece during the mid-80's to mid-90's was hands-down the best time to be a child!

There is a very logical explanation to this. In the mid-80's the TV network in Greece was rather limited, consisting of the grand total of two channels, both of which were state-owned. So, options were simply not there, although both  channels did air some good cartoon series. The big bang came around 1990, when private TV channels were founded. These were of course for-profit organisations, so they needed to attract customers. And what is a better target group than children?

What followed was a torrent of pure awesomeness. Of course we'd get all the Warner Bros/Disney stuff like "Looney Tunes", "Merrie Melodies", "Duck Tales" and "Darkwing Duck", along with "classics" such as "The Smurfs" and "Dennis". But we'd also get anime. Yes, that's right. Anime. The robots-fighting-aliens, sci-fi grandeur kind of anime. On TV. Every day. So, without further ado, read 'em and weep:

(1) Area 88

(2) Battle of the Planets



(3) BraveStarr



(4) Captain Harlock
 

Well, Part-1 concludes here 'cause it's already getting rather long. There's more to come, stay tuned.

Politicians and humour...

I know, I know, this one's a long debate. Yes, politicians are public figures, they hold positions of responsibility, some of them even run entire countries, so they need to be careful and comport themselves in a certain fashion and so forth and so on... However, they are still humans and nothing comes more natural to our species than a sense of humour (OK, there are actually many things that come more natural to humans than humour, but I digress.)

To be honest though, I really believe that most politicians do not have a sense of humour. It's not that they are trying to be careful, they are genuinely not funny people. Whenever a politician does something funny (or at least tries to), this generally means that we laugh at them. Failed attempts at playing football (a certain Greek ex-Prime Minister comes to mind), failed attempts at riding a racing bicycle (another Greek ex-Prime Minister comes to mind), failed attempts at doing anything normal and logical (Boris Johnson, anyone?), each country has at least one politician who fails to show any degree of humour.

And then you see this show...

Now, I don't live in the States so I am really not in a position to judge Barack Obama on his policies (or lack thereof, depending on your POV). But really, kudos to him for this appearance. Like him or not, he is the President of the US, and still he owns my fellow-countryman Zack. I'm trying ever-so-hard to imagine different politicians at a similar setting... no luck so far, but I'm open to ideas.

A blast from the past #2

Part 2 of the retro-special is dedicated to board games. Board games are of course still quite popular. People gather at friends' houses and spend afternoons or evenings (or both) playing and having fun (it is so unfortunate that board sounds like bored). Some are classic (Monopoly, anyone?), some are country specific, we all know them and love them and we've all played at least once.

The following board games are the ones I grew up with. To be honest, I didn't have most of them, but I was lucky enough to have friends that did. Naturally, if I were to find one of them (or spend a small fortune to acquire it), I would sit down and play it in a heartbeat. Even if I were alone...

Here they go:

(1) Ghost Castle

 

Info: here

Plot: Navigate your character through all the rooms of the house, all the way to the top of the tower, avoiding traps and outrunning other players.

Comments: This is actually the only one of the list that I owned. It was a Xmas present from my parents Santa Claus. Hours of fun, mostly playing with my brother, as well as moments of great frustration, particularly when you fell victim of the last trap, just before reaching the tower top.

(2) Hotel

Info: here

Plot: Become the richest hotel tycoon

Comments: Effectively, a Monopoly spin-off (aka rip-off). But who cares? It was Monopoly in 3D, with hotels! I always went for the "President" complex - that's the one at the bottom left corner of the cover above, the steel & glass modern-looking one with asymmetric rooftops. And yes, I would prefer Hotel to Monopoly any given day.

(3) Go for broke

 

Info: here
Plot: Lose one million dollars faster than other players
Comments: Another Monopoly-type game, but with a twist. In this one, you were trying to go bankrupt by spending all your money in a number of imaginative ways. Super fun game; if you didn't consider it as free-market, capitalist propaganda, that is.

(4) Mysteries of Old Peking

Info: here
Plot: Solve a mystery before other players by interrogating witnesses around town and collecting clues.
Comments: This is one of the games I've played the most. I absolutely loved it! It had some quite fancy accessories like a red filter to decipher scrambled clues and a mirror to read backwards-written clues. And it was taking place in China, which for some bizarre reason made it more... mysterious.

(5) Cluedo

Info: here
Plot: Who killed Dr. Black? In what room? With what weapon?
Comments: A classic, doesn't require any introductions or explanations! Nicely challenging and insanely fun, particularly when played under the influence of certain substances.

(6) Risk

Info: here
Plot: The Game of Global Domination
Comments: Another classic. Hours upon hours of epic, merciless battles. The game that taught generations of children where Kamchatka and Irkutsk are.

(7) Dragon Game System aka Dark World

Info: here
Plot: Four brave heroes must battle their way through hordes of enemies in their quest to defeat the evil Korak.
Comments: A (easily digestible) D&D-type game with cards, dice and plastic miniatures on a 3-D board. Amazing game, I could play it over and over and over. It could only be surpassed by.....

(8) HeroQuest

Info: here
Plot: Four brave heroes embark on a variety of quests, trying to survive the dungeons of evil Morcar.
Comments: HeroQuest was based on GWs "Warhammer Fantasy" universe. It had much more of a traditional-D&D-game feeling, as it actually required a DM to narrate the quest and players were free to add their own adventures. It also came with a board, cards, dice and fantastic miniatures. And it was out before DGS/DW. AWESOMENESS!

(9) Space Crusade

Info: here
Plot (for W40K fans): A whatever-happened-to-the-Codex squad of five Space Marines (choice of Imperial Fists, Blood Angels and Ultrasmurfsmarines) boards a Space Hulk and faces greenskins, Eldar, CSM and genestealers.
Plot (for the others): Good space guys must kill bad space guys.
Comments: As you might have guessed already, this is HeroQuest's space cousin, based on GWs "Warhammer 40K" universe, albeit with considerably simpler rules. Just thinking about this game makes me want to cry, so I stop it here... ABSOLUTE AWESOMENESS!

BONUS GREECE-SPECIFIC GAME

Κατάκτηση (pronounced /katáktisi/, meaning Conquest). Yes, it was obviously a blatant Stratego rip-off. I didn't care. I wanted it. I was eyeing it every day for at least a month. Then my grandpa noticed. And then it was mine... After that, many a times has my brother been a victim of my cunning, strategic mind...

As advertised, Part 3 will be about (cartoon) series and will most likely be a 2-parter itself...

WTF news #3...

So, apparently in the States, if you walk your dog, you can end up $10m richer, as this article informs us.

I walk my dog 3 times a day and all I "discover" is shite and rubbish. 

Life's so unfair...

A blast from the past #1

Back from the summer holidays (yes, it's summer in the southern hemisphere), batteries recharged and in a nostalgic/retrospective mood, I'm starting this series of posts that relate to (my) childhood.

We kick off with the best hand-held console ever to come out of Japan, the one, the only, the Game Boy 

Yes, it had a tiny screen. Yes, it didn't have colour. But you know what... WHO CARES??? We are talking (very) early '90s here, it was A W E S O M E and we loved it! Collectively I must have spent at least 2 years of my life (and Supreme Being knows how many batteries) playing something on the Game Boy. 

I've lost track of how many and which games I owned, so what follows are the ones that have been etched in memory. Plus, there was a huge Game Boy culture in Greece, so swapping games with friends was quite common, making it even more difficult to remember exactly all the games I've played. 

Here it goes...

(1) Fortress of Fear

The first game I bought (together with the actual Game Boy). Yes, I was already an epic fantasy geek. I don't care too much about what the Wiki article says on reception by the critics etc. I was ten, I didn't care. Oh, and the music of this game... the music...

(2) SML 2: 6 golden coins

The second game I bought (together with the Game Boy and FoF). Trivia: originally I wanted to buy Castelvania, but mum and/or dad said something along the lines of "two games with demons on the cover is too much (for your tender, innocent soul I might add)", so SML2 it was.

And I don't regret it really. SML2 was an amazing game. Quite large, quite challenging (for a ten year old), with imaginative levels such as Mario in space and Mario underwater, and of course it marked the debut of Wario.

(3) Raging Fighter

One of the two 2D versus fighting games I owned. Obviously, it was a blatant copy of Street Fighter, but again, WHO CARES? I have played this with the "Game Link", i.e. connecting two Game Boys and playing against a friend, which was more than enough. Plus, it included a sumo-like character named "Bulk". Priceless...

(4) Mortal Combat II

The other 2D versus fighting game I owned. This game requires no introductions and no explanations. It's the one with the fatalities. 'Nough said!

(5) Kung Fu master 

The Game Boy adaptation of the first beat 'em up game. A Bruce Lee-type of character beating the shit out of bad guys. Who needs more?

(6) Probotector 

Originally, this was released as Operation C or something daft like that in the US. Luckily, some very clever Europeans changed the human hero character to a manga-like robot and the human bad guys to alien bad guys. They also changed the meh cover of the US game, to the above cool cover, making the game 10 times better that in the US (ok, technically, the game didn't change, but you get my point).

(7) NBA - All Star Challenge 

Basketball, of course. While it did not reach the awesomeness levels of NBA Jam, still it gave you the opportunity to choose any two NBA stars (think original Dream Team) and play one-on-one style.

(8) Zelda - Link's Awakening

According to one guy "... best Game Boy game ever, an adventure so engrossing and epic..." And yes, it really was! If I could get my hands on a Game Boy now, this is the game I would choose to play. It had everything you want from a game, and then some. I could write an entire post just for this game. Probably, my all-time-favourite game.

Of course, during the years many other games passed from my Game Boy. Alas, memory does not serve me too well - I definitely remember playing Terminator 2, Kirby's Dream Land, Spider-Man, Duck Tales, Gargoyle's Quest, Home Alone 2 and The Hunt for Red October. And I did also get to play Castelvania, borrowed from a friend...

Part 2 will follow (at some point), devoted to either board games or tv series (in which case the one left out will become part 3) ...

There is science... #2

... and there is science.

"These neurosurgeons are crazy, by Toutatis!"**

**Joke that is unfortunately lost on anyone who hasn't read Asterix...

WTF news #2...

So, according to a popular belief, today is the most depressing day of the year, a.k.a. Blue Monday, although this is debatable, as it is all based on a rather ambiguous equation.

In any case, if you are feeling depressed, here is something to make you smile: 

stolen cannabis article.

How f-ing stupid can you be?

Happy New Year

2014 has landed, so Happy New Year to everybody!

I'm not going to reflect too much on 2013. It had many ups and downs; the latter I will try to forget as soon as possible, the former I will keep and move on. However, a few amazing people that I met last year deserve a special mention. They shall not be named though, they know who they are...

So, here's to a good year for all of us!