Posts by Lucy Stewart
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Zeppelins are making a comeback.
Excellent. I'm just about ready for an alternate universe, this one's getting a bit run-down.
-
Though most of those 'wasting' households will be rental properties anyway.
We have been blessed with a landlord who had insulation installed in the walls and floor, and by God, is it ever going to make a difference to our power bill this winter. It makes the various cut-backs to insulation subsidy schemes seem criminal - and on the back of rising power prices, too.
-
When I point out that the "today is a gift" quote is not original to Kung Fu Panda, I'm not telling anyone anything they didn't know, right?
-
Assuming that wasn't a clever joke, no.
Lockwood Smith is the Speaker. Nick Smith is the cabinet minister.
=)
Curse all people with confusingly identical surnames. Do they really expect us to pay enough attention to tell them apart?
-
90% of electricity generation in Australia is geothermal - and almost all of that is coal (gas makes up only around 5%).
You mean fossil-fuel powered, right? I don't think Australia has that much room for geothermal generation, sitting in the middle of a continental plate as they do. Be interested to know if they have/how much they have, though. (And now I check, Wikipedia says they don't have any currently, but it's considered a good potential source.
< / pedant >
-
Some way back, I realised that my kids actually experience physical reality in a profoundly different way than I do.
It's a helpful insight into human difference in general, actually.
And it's one of those things you don't think about until you start asking questions - because, especially as a child, you assume that of *course* everyone else experiences the world the way you do. People are reluctant to start these conversations, but they're incredibly important to have.
-
I know what you mean. Can't we get back to discussing copyright?
Actually I was kind of hoping we could return to...what was Russell's blog post about, again?
-
Just in: John Key doesn't want anyone hugging polar bears. Has he been chatting to Sarah Palin?
-
Science fiction is the search for a definition of mankind and his status in the universe which will stand in our advanced but confused state of knowledge (science), and is characteristically cast in the Gothic or post-Gothic mode .
I think the "universe" aspect of that definition is important, too; sci-fi tends to cast a wider net, looking outwards. Fantasy tends to look more inwards.
Another definition I've always liked is that science fiction is about humanity's reaction to speculative things and events, where fantasy is about humanity's reaction to speculative aspects of each other. Science fantasy, I think, is fiction that is set in a wider universe, but follows fantasy themes. Space opera, at heart, is really just action/adventure/military stories set in space. Some looks at more science-y aspects, but really it's all about the dogfights. But there's so much blurring around the edges, really, that I sometimes think the all these categories are ultimately unworkable.
-
Islander - I've never seen real SAD lights, but my partner just runs two outdoor halogen 1kW lights on a stand if it's mid-winter or it's been grey for too many days running. He looked into getting the real deal, but it wasn't affordable. I'm not sure if he has SAD per se, but the change in his attitude/behaviour if he remembers to turn them on for a bit during that time of year is *amazing*. Of course, they're energy hogs and double as a heater because they emit so much waste heat (fine in winter, at least) but they do the job.