The Most Fascinating Libraries of the World 03 - Bibliotheque Nationale de France

I visited a friend's blog one day and I was literary blown over by a picture of one of the most fascinating libraries around - Trinity College Library in Dublin, Ireland. It also gave me an idea of a series of posts about the best, the most beautiful, the strangest and the biggest libraries there are. The libraries that can make you drool, where you would be able to spend an indefinite period of time without noticing, where you would like to live and die till the end of the world (if they only served coffee and cake that is). Perhaps you can't visit them all but what is the Internet for? I'll try to illustrate my posts as well as it is only possible, providing, I hope, a nice tour for every visitor around. Enjoy!


Bibliotheque Nationale de France (or the National French Library) is located in Paris and his current president is Bruno Racine. It has two main venues: buildings on the Rue de Richelieu, constructed in 1868, and a new venue, planned as a grand project of the elderly president Francois Mitterrand. Construction of the new library ran into huge cost overruns and technical difficulties related to its high-rise design, so much so that it is commonly referred to as the "TGB" or "Très Grande Bibliothèque" (i.e. "Very Large Library," a sarcastic allusion to France's successful high-speed rail system, the TGV). After the move of the major collections from the rue de Richelieu, the National Library of France was inaugurated on 15 December 1996. It contains more than ten million volumes but, suprisingly, doesn't maintain a wireless network.

Site Richelieu:

Site Mitterrand:

Now: the old or the new? Which would you like to visit?

Movie review: Prometheus directed by Ridley Scott

Directed by: Ridley Scott

Cast:

Elizabeth Shaw: Noomi Rapace

David: Michael Fassbender

Peter Weyland: Guy Pearce

Janek (the captain): Idris Elba

Meredith Vickers (the commander): Charlize Theron

Fifield: Sean Harris

Year: 2012

MPAA rating: R (18+ only)




My impressions:

If you happen to have too few problems in your life, go and start looking for aliens.

A filthy rich and terminally ill tycoon is financing an expedition to find our alien ancestors. He sends a top-of-the-range ship with a crew consisting of scientists from different fields to a distant galaxy where a planet similar to the Earth has been found. You see, some scientists, having looked at different ancient bas-reliefs, stone stellas, murals and such decided that our alien creators have left us an invitation in a form of pictograms, indicating where they dwell and how to get there. Isn’t it lovely? Just hop into a space ship and go!

The whole trip is smooth enough and, of course, as soon as they reach their destination the troubles are waiting. The fact that their commander, a coldly beautiful blonde straight from a Nazi’s wet dream (Charlize Theron), follows her own agenda doesn't help either. The only android on board, David, is a shifty customer as well but you can hardly blame him- apparently he has been modelled after that tycoon so he has no conscience.

The planet is empty and unpleasant but soon enough our lovely scientists stumble on an interesting structure, probably designed and constructed by intelligent beings (a stroke of luck indeed) and start exploring. Yee-haaaw! While sightseeing they find: a) a lot of gravel and dirt b) some dead bodies of giants c) small containers full of strange dark goo – items definitely worth risking your life while travelling years in the state of deep hibernation don’t you think? They take one head of a dead giant with them and return to the ship but there is a sand storm or rather a silica gravel storm so not all of them manage to make it. Two people, the most unpleasant people among the whole crew I should add, have to stay trapped in the structure and play dungeons and dragons. Or hide and seek. Or merry-go-round.As the victims are where the director wanted them to be the bloody mayhem begins – hardly surprising for anybody who has seen any of the previous movies of the Alien series. Remember – aliens are hungry and baaaaad. Your-guts-are-soon-spilled-on-the-floor bad.

In the end only two characters survive and they are hardly in a good shape (highlight to learn more - a spoiler ahead). One of them misses his head – good thing that, being an android, he doesn’t have to breathe. The second happy survivor is dr Elizabeth Shaw – a woman who had to perform an emergency cesarean in vivo. On herself. If your mom has repeatedly said that unprotected sex is a no-no this movie might actually provide additional and rather graphic proof- it was one of the most sickening scenes I’ve seen for a long time but an alien child is no laughing matter. By the way a giant ancestor can be as agressive as your average thug so it is also an argument against looking for long-forgotten relatives. Not very pro-life and pro-family movie you must admit.

Ok, time for some conclusions. The movie leaves you with far more questions than answers which surprised me a bit because it was supposed to be a prequel to the older Alien movies, like explaining this and that. As it is, it rather looks like a beginning of a new series altogether with a big cliffhanger at the end. As usual pepare yourself for a fair dose of violence although compared to other Alien installments this one was not so bad. If I am to be honest, though, I have been the most scared while watching the first Alien (8th Passenger of Nostromo). No amout of gore can frighten you as much as something you  simply know nothing about and in that movie a certain cat died as well so I was scared and devastated at the same time.

There were several inconsistencies but one that made me gasp. You see, the blonde commander had a very advanced medical robot in her suite of rooms but it didn’t support any gynaecological procedures – it was designed just for treating MEN. Say what you might but if I planned such a dangerous, long-lasting mission with a MIXED crew on board I would insist EVERY possible procedure was added to that little technical wonder just in case. I gather, being so advanced and all, it couldn’t run out of memory chips, could it? I would do so especially if I happened to be one of the WOMEN, a commander and also a daughter of the main sponsor.

Finally I was a bit disappointed that the Aliens proved to be every bit as murderous as those other slimy, squid-like monsters, following them close behind (they always follow food). I know that violence can draw crowds and apparently is is far easier to organize a blood bath in a movie than a serious philosophical discussion about the most essential questions plaguing the humankind (like the origin of life and the aim of our existence). Still, wasn’t this movie supposed to be just about these more serious issues? About Prometheus, the Greek Titan who gave the people more than any other god, sacrificing his own life? It seems to me that the director started very ambitiously but finally, for a reason or two, chose an easier option. Pity.

Final verdict:

If you are a fan of Ridley Scott movies, sci-fi or the Alien series I think this film will be a must. I have to admit I was left a bit disappointed at the end but I never got bored while watching it so perhaps it wasn’t such a horrible waste of time. Still some scenes were disturbing - see for yourself (and it is still just a trailer!)

Our sweet consolation or devil’s candy?

The summer has come. Have you noticed? The temperatures are high, the sun is shining so many people parade around in t-shirts skirts and shorts, showing off…well, their not very appetizing bodies. To put it blandly, they are FAT. It concerns all sexes and people of all ages, even very young children. Have you thought why there are so many seriously obese people around the world? The hero of my essay might be one of the main culprits. I am thinking here about high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) known also as glucose-fructose syrup in the UK, glucose/fructose in Canada, and high-fructose maize syrup in other countries. It is a ubiquitous sweetening ingredient which is mixed into thousands of drinks and snacks to appeal to sweet toothed customers.



You can find this ingredient in breads, cereals, breakfast bars, lunch meats, yogurts, soups, and condiments. According to the Wikipedia which quotes USDA, HFCS consists of 24% water, and the rest sugars. The most widely used varieties of high-fructose corn syrup are: HFCS 55 (mostly used in soft drinks), approximately 55% fructose and 42% glucose; and HFCS 42 (used in beverages, processed foods, cereals and baked goods), approximately 42% fructose and 53% glucose. HFCS-90, approximately 90% fructose and 10% glucose, is used in small quantities for specialty applications, but primarily is used to blend with HFCS 42 to make HFCS 55. Now, if you don’t work for a food company, should it interest you at all? Yes, it should; especially if you (like yours truly) or somebody from your family or friends have gained a lot of weight lately and simply can’t get any slimmer. You see, HFCS might be responsible.

 Before I explain how and why let’s see how it began. When it comes to the substance itself, the HFCS was first introduced by Richard O. Marshall and Earl R. Kooi in 1957. They were, however, unsuccessful in making it viable for mass production .The industrial production process and creation was made by Dr. Yoshiyuki Takasaki at the Agency of Industrial Science and Technology of Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Japan in 1965–1970. HFCS was rapidly introduced to many processed foods and soft drinks in the U.S. from about 1975 to 1985. High-fructose corn syrup is produced by milling corn to produce corn starch, then processing that starch to yield corn syrup, which is almost entirely glucose, and then adding enzymes that change some of the glucose into fructose. The resulting syrup (after enzyme conversion) contains approximately 42% fructose and is HFCS 42. Some of the 42% fructose is then purified to 90% fructose, HFCS 90. To make HFCS 55, the HFCS 90 is mixed with HFCS 42 in the appropriate ratios to form the desired HFCS 55.

Why did HFCS supplant so swiftly other ‘normal’ kinds of sugar, produced from sugar cane or sugar beet? Its price is the key to quite an incredible career. In 1971 the Oval Office was occupied by one of least pleasant American presidents, Richard Nixon. He was facing re-election and his popularity plunged dangerously because of the Vietnam war and the soaring cost of food. The war was one matter but the high cost of living was affecting every single American citizen. Nixon knew very well that, if he wanted to continue his career as a politician, he had to reduce food prices. The president appointed Earl Butz, an academic from Indiana to find a solution. Butz, an agriculture expert, pushed farmers into a new, industrial scale of production and farming one crop in particular – corn. In doing so he seemed to literally alter the shape of human race. US cattle were fattened by the immense increase in corn production. Burgers became bigger, French fries, fried in corn oil, became fattier and more tasty. The market was swamped by cheaper food and everybody at that time seemed enjoying the bonanza- Nixon’s popularity went up, American farmers became richer than ever and the consumers had products with lower price tag. A paradise? Well, there was trouble brewing.

 By the mid-70s, there was a surplus of corn so Butz flew to Japan to look into a scientific innovation that would change everything: the mass development of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). It was not only sweet but also so incredibly cheap. HFCS was soon included into every conceivable food: pizzas, coleslaw, meat. It provided that "freshly baked" sheen on bread and cakes, made everything sweeter, and extended shelf life from days to years. A silent revolution of the amount of sugar that was going into our bodies was taking place Why was HFCS such a miracle worker? Table sugar (also called sucrose) and HFCS both consist of two simple sugars: fructose and glucose. The proportion of fructose and glucose in HFCS is basically the same ratio as table sugar, which is made of 50% fructose and 50% glucose. Both sweeteners contain the same number of calories (4 calories per gram). There is a slight difference, though. Fructose and glucose in table sugar, coming most often from sugar beet, are chemically bonded together, and the body must first digest sugar to break these bonds before the body can absorb the fructose and glucose into the bloodstream. In contrast, the fructose and glucose found in HFCS are merely blended together, which means it doesn't need to be digested before it is metabolized and absorbed into the bloodstream. Because of this, theories abound that HFCS has a greater impact on blood glucose levels than regular sugar (sucrose).

However, research has shown that there are no significant differences between HFCS and sugar (sucrose) when it comes to the production of insulin, leptin (a hormone that regulates body weight and metabolism), ghrelin (the "hunger" hormone), or the changes in blood glucose levels. In addition, satiety studies done on HFCS and sugar (sucrose) have found no difference in appetite regulation, feelings of fullness, or short-term energy intake. Overall official sources are unanimous: research studies have yielded mixed results about the possible adverse effects of consuming high-fructose corn syrup. Although high-fructose corn syrup is chemically similar to table sugar (sucrose), concerns have been raised because of how high-fructose corn syrup is processed. Some believe that your body reacts differently to high-fructose corn syrup than it does to other types of sugar. But research about high-fructose corn syrup is evolving. It basically means nobody is able to tell you they know EVERYTHING about that kind of sugar.

Some research studies have linked consumption of large amounts of any type of added sugar — not just high-fructose corn syrup — to such health problems as weight gain, dental cavities, poor nutrition, and increased triglyceride levels, which can boost your heart attack risk. But there is insufficient evidence to say that high-fructose corn syrup is less healthy than are other types of added sweeteners. HFCS has been classified generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration since 1976 Still…it would be extremely naïve if you didn’t take into account one very important factor – in the best interest of plenty of powerful, rich companies is to prove HFCS is harmless – just like any other kind of sugar. I would compare it to the situation of the tobacco companies which for many years, persistently and doggedly told their customers cigarettes were harmless. They used every trick in their books, tweaked and bought false research results, intimidated and blackmailed. The money they earned allowed them to do so and encouraged them to do even more. The situation might be repeating itself – we are speaking about equally affluent businesses.

 Finally people decided it was high time to lose some weight. Okey dokey. The food industry spotted another great opportunity right away - the creation of a new genre of food, something they knew the public would embrace with huge enthusiasm, believing it to be better for their health. The market for "low fat" products was born. Overnight, new products arrived on the shelves, products that seemed too good to be true. Low-fat yoghurts, spreads, even desserts and biscuits. All with the fat taken out, and replaced with sugar – yummy hings you could eat without pangs of conscience- but are they really so innocent? Britain was one of the most enthusiastic adopters of what food writer Gary Taubes, author of Why We Get Fat, calls "the low-fat dogma", with sales rocketing. However, when you take the fat out of a recipe, food tastes like cardboard, and you need to replace it with something – that something being sugar. By the mid-80s, health experts such as Professor Philip James, a world-renowned British scientist who was one of the first to identify obesity as an issue, were noticing that people were getting fatter and still no one could explain why. 


The food industry was keen to point out that individuals must be responsible for their own calorie consumption (they are always responsible, aren’t they), but even those who exercised regularly and ate low-fat products were gaining weight. In 1966 the proportion of people with a BMI of over 30 (classified as obese) was just 1.2% for men and 1.8% for women. By 1989 the figures had risen to 10.6% for men and 14.0% for women. And no one was joining the dots between HFCS and fat. Moreover, there was something else going on. The more sugar we ate, the more we wanted, and the hungrier we became. At New York University, Professor Anthony Sclafani, a nutritionist studying appetite and weight gain, noticed something strange about lab rats. When they ate rat food, they put on weight normally. But when they ate processed food from a supermarket, they ballooned in a matter of days. Their appetite for sugary foods was insatiable: they just carried on eating. According to dr Tony Goldstone, one of the by-products of obesity is that a hormone called leptin ceases to work properly. Normally, leptin is produced by the body to tell you that you are full. However, in obese people, it becomes severely depleted, and it is thought that a high intake of sugar is a key reason. When the leptin doesn't work, your body simply doesn't realize you should stop eating. Leptin raises a big question: did the food industry knowingly create foods that were addictive, that would make you feel as though you were never satisfied and always wanted more? I am fully aware that this is highly controversial. If it could be proved that at that some point the food industry became aware of the long-term, detrimental effects their products were having on the public, and continued to develop and sell them, the scandal would rival that of what happened to the tobacco industry. 

You might wonder: after all sugar is a natural product, right? Wrong. Let’s face it: neither table sugar nor HFCS would exist without human interaction and processing. You cannot just go to a field and squeeze corn syrup out of corn or sugar out of sugar beets or sugarcane. "Natural" or not, too much sweet stuff can't be good for you—even if it comes from what you might think of as natural sweeteners like honey, agave syrup (which is also highly refined and actually higher in fructose than HFCS) or raw sugar. Barry Popkin, Ph.D., a nutrition professor at the University of North Carolinal stresses that the real obesity problem doesn’t lie just with HFCS. Rather, it’s the fact that sugars from all sources have become so prevalent in our food supply, especially in our beverages. He scoffs at the “natural” sweeteners sometimes added to upscale processed foods like organic crackers and salad dressings. “They all have the same caloric effects as sugar,” he explains. “I don’t care whether something contains concentrated fruit juice, brown sugar, honey or HFCS. The only better sweetener option is ‘none of the above.’” Perhaps it is the wisest option, after all.


Finally let me add that the situation is not hopeless. Responding to the public mood, Starbucks last year removed the syrup from its bakery products, and several other brands including Gatorade sports drinks have cut back on its use. Hey, we are not that helpless as the customers after all!


My sources:


 http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jun/11/why-our-food-is-making-us-fat
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01jxzv8http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/sep/15/high-fructose-corn-syrup-rename
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-fructose_corn_syrup
http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=486
http://www.eatingwell.com/nutrition_health/nutrition_news_information/is_high_fructose_corn_syrup_bad_for_you 
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-fructose-corn-syrup/AN01588

Movie review: Snow White and the Huntsman

Directed by: Bryan Singer

Genre: Action/adventure drama

Cast:

Ravenna: Charlize Theron

Snow White: Kristen Stewart

The Huntsman: Chris Hemsworth

King Magnus: Noah Huntley

Finn (Ravenna’s brother) :Sam Spruel

Year: 2012

MPAA rating: PG-13

My impressions:

In the kingdom of idiocy a halfwit can be a king…King Magnus, a heavily depressed widower, fits the bill. You see, after the death of his wife he was attacked by an army of strange, black zombies. Not even asking one single question he went into battle and defeated them all. On the battlefield his people found a closed cart with a young woman inside. As soon as Magnus saw her he thought: ”A perfect candidate for a Queen – a dirty, stinking, helpless blonde in rags, moaning like a weak kitten. What’s more I know nothing about her or her kin…just great! Who needs all those pesky in-laws?”

Poor king, apparently nobody has informed him that physical exercise is good for depression or maybe his BDSM proclivities kicked in as well; anyway he and the hapless blonde, called Ravenna, married the very next day. During their wedding night Ravenna showed her ugly side. Not only she told her new husband that in her humble opinion all men are chauvinistic swines (and he was necking her so nicely at the time, poor idiot) but also she killed him with a vicious-looking dagger soon afterwards, not even waiting for his opinion. Still Ravenna wasn’t aware that idiocy has already infected her. The proof? She let princess Snow White live. Why? Apparently because the girl had paid her a rather trivial, childish compliment. Or maybe the Queen has already been planning committing suicide by Snow White in the near future? Who knows?

Anyway our dear Ravenna kills her hubby in their bed and NOBODY reacts or investigates or at least says in a polite, cultured voice: “oh really?”.Obviously Magnus had very few friends in his own castle. Then the new Queen calls her buddies in, a band of thugs commanded by her brother Finn, and she starts the reign of terror. Woohooo! You see, she is an evil witch who only thinks of her own beauty and powers – in order to stay on top she feeds off young, pretty girls, sucking the vital forces out of them. A regular vampire, Bella Swann/Cullen, would approve but Snow White is not given such an opportunity - she is imprisoned in a tower. Still it is obvious that somebody regulates her eyebrows from time to time so it is perhaps not so bad. Meanwhile her evil stepmother bathes in milk wearing nothing but her crown (seriously, I would like that bathtub of hers) and consults her faithful mirror. Everybody who counts is happy as the kingdom turns into a Goth’s paradise with naked trees, ravens cawing and people wearing stylish black leather clothes and heavy make-up when idiocy strikes back.

The mirror informs the Queen that Snow White, now fully-grown and completely stupid young woman, is actually more beautiful than her and might defeat her one day. Well, I looked and looked and couldn’t see how it might be possible: Kristen with her long teeth and equally long, narrow face being prettier than Charlize…maybe the mirror, infected by the omnipresent idiocy, lied. Well, look for yourself - who is prettier? Is there a big difference? BTW I like Charlize's dress far more.

Ok, dum-dum-dum-dum Ravenna finds out that only by tearing Snow White’s heart out she will be safe. No problem. She sends her brother to fetch the princess from her tower but she's just made a big mistake – poor Finn in his badly fitting white-blond wig and with a scared face (thus we know he is a baddie) has been fascinated by Snow White for some time now and, lost in a fantasy of giving the girl the first proper grope, he allows her to escape into Black Forest. A small army of people is chasing her and yet she escapes. Yes, Finn and his men got that stupid.

From now on idiocy is spreading on whenever Snow White happens to show her pale, narrow face. It clings to her like noxious fumes; soon it infects the Huntsman, sent to find the girl, and everybody around them, including one poor digital troll, a pair of albino elves-monkeys and a band of dwarves. Ravenna is hardly immune - she has one perfect opportunity to kill Snow White when she, incarnating William, gives her that poisoned apple  and then she loses plenty of time gloating and prattling. Idiocy. The movie ends as it should – Snow White is revived by a kiss (not telling whose) and Ravenna is killed by her nemesis clad in a heavy armour, Jeanne d’Arc style. Then Snow White is crowned as the next queen. Still I fear it is not the real end; apparently the producers are planning a sequel because our sweet heroine hasn’t married (or at least bedded) either the grumpy Huntsman (bad breath and too high alcohol intake I suppose) or her childhood aristocratic friend, William (too long teeth make him look a bit like rabbit when he smiles). I sniff a romantic trio. Haven’t I repeated over and over again that idiocy is spreading?

Final verdict:

What could be said...imagine you are a woman who, by sheer luck, has found out how to keep your beauty and youth intact while living like forever. What would you do? Would your first option be invading a kingdom after a kingdom, killing your new husband every time and estranging even those people who really like black leather clothes with studs? Would you ask anxiously a certain magical artifact over and over again 'who is the fairest of them all' even though you don't know where it keeps its brains? No? Don’t watch this movie then – it is not worth it. Not even the special effects. Not even the closing song by Florence and the Machine. The song (Breath of Life), though, is worth listening to but it can be found on Youtube for free- enjoy!

Review: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy by John le Carre

Book info:

Book form: e-pub file

Genre: spy thriller with some philosophy

Target audience: adults

A quote to give you some idea what you are dealing with:

“'It is the perfect fix: you see that, don't you, Toby, really?' Smiley remarked in a quiet, rather distant way. 'Assuming it is a fix. It makes everyone wrong who's right: Connie Sachs, Jerry Westerby... Jim Prideaux... even Control. Silences the doubters before they've even spoken out... the permutations are infinite, once you've brought off the basic lie. Moscow Centre must be allowed to think she has an important Circus source; Whitehall on no account must get wind of the same notion. Take it to its logical conclusion and Gerald would have us strangling our own children in their beds.”

Not understanding anything? Don’t worry, you are in a good company…

Synopsis:

This is the first book of the Karla Trilogy by former British intelligence officer "John le Carre'" (David John Moore Cornwell), featuring the ex-spy George Smiley. At first glance he is your average older guy who simply doesn’t know what to do with his retirement. Smiley has not retired with dignity, mind you, but rather has been fired for backing the wrong man. The head of MI5, called simply Circus, a spy so elusive that people only knew him as "Control," went out in a blaze of tragedy, and Smiley's career was one of the casualties. The same things happen all the time in every bigger company. Control was trying to find a mole. He failed and the Circus has been reorganized. So who watches the watchmen? Somebody has to. George Smiley seems to fit the bill as he has nothing to lose, doesn’t he?

All of a sudden he is given a pretext to return - he is asked to investigate the identity of the “mole” . He is helped by Peter Guillam, an active spy and, as we follow those two we learn a lot about the MI5 history and inner workings. It is a world of lies, scandals, espionage, double or even triple agents but hardly a glamorized fairy tale James Bond style. Mistrust and paranoia is as natural as snow in the Arctic, office politics are indistinguishable from international espionage and even your closest friend might prove to be your deadliest enemy. And vice versa. I really don’t feel like presenting all the twists and turns of the plot – just rest assure the book is densely twisted and consists of many puzzles – see the quote above.

What I liked:

The book was very original indeed – however you must know that Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is not a novel for fans of the real literature of action. Instead, this is a book for people interested in less known but far more accurate facts concerning the spying job - a job like many other dirty, dangerous and difficult occupations, just with a higher risk factor.

As far as spies go, George Smiley is very far removed from James Bond and Jason Bourne. He is an averagely looking man past his prime and his glamorous wife, Ann, has cheated on him many times (guess why. I liked this description of him:

“For a space, that was how Smiley stood: a fat, barefooted spy, as Ann would say, deceived in love and impotent in hate, clutching a gun in one hand, a bit of string in the other, as he waited in the darkness.”

It’s true, George Smiley is not even jealous or complaining a lot anymore – after all you shouldn’t demand too much from people. We're invited to consider what's going on inside his head -- and he's still a master spy who knows pretty well that you can buy or ‘seduce’ anyone, it’s only a matter of using the right leverage. Sometimes you fail but if you are good at it you will be successful most of the time.

After a while I thought that the world of spies and secret agents was merely an excuse for an unsparing examination of human betrayal in its many forms. Romantic, marital, parental, institutional and governmental structures all corrode from the vanity and ambition of the protagonists. Friendship is not possible as characters tenuously holding on to their probity are the ones most used and discarded. A bleak world, fit for times when everything seems relative.

It also seems to me this book was written to be a counter point to the James Bond films. Instead of rocket packs and laser wrist watches, it is a realistic portrayal of espionage as a business conducted mainly by middle aged bureaucrats in dusty ministry offices. The tone is melancholic and philosophical – it is not your ordinary “spy thriller” for sure.

Finally the character of Jim Prideaux I found very nicely constructed and quite intriguing, though his inner life, contrary to that of Smiley’s, remains a mystery and yes, he and Ann cheated on poor George as well.

What I didn’t like:

I can be considered shallow now but there were places in this book which made me annoyed. It is simple, from time to time I wanted some action – you know, these car chases, sword-play, karate, parachute-jumping,  maybe some poison or such. In other words, I wanted a story that actually had a certain aim – going there, destroying this or killing that. I waited in vain - it is simply not that book. You should read it as if you tried to solve a puzzle, in peace and quiet, not hurrying to the finish. Sometimes I admit I lacked the necessary patience – I kept forgetting who plays what role and who cooperates with whom against the evil mole. A bit disconcerting, don’t you think? Oh well…still it is a minor quibble.

Final verdict:

Definitely a novel worth your attention but a) if you expect a real thriller you might be disappointed; b) if you think it qualifies as entertaining “light reading” e.g. for a day on a beach or a long journey think again; c) if you don’t like solving complex puzzles while reading you might find the plot hard to follow. Still it rings true and that fact is worth far more than James Bond’s fireworks or Jason Bourne’s kicks.

The Most Fascinating Libraries of the World 02 - British Museum King's Library

I've visited a friend's blog recently and I was literary blown over by a picture of one of the most fascinating libraries around - Trinity College Library in Dublin, Ireland. It also gave me an idea of a series of posts about the best, the most beautiful, the strangest and the biggest libraries there are. The libraries that can make you drool, where you would be able to spend an indefinite period of time without noticing, where you would like to live and die till the end of the world (if they only served coffee and cake that is). Perhaps you can't visit them all but what is the Internet for? I'll try to illustrate my posts as well as it is only possible, providing, I hope, a nice tour for every visitor around. Enjoy!

The second venue, presented by me in this series, is the King's Library, known also as the King George III library, currently a part of the British Museum in London. 

Yes, it is not a library sensu stricto as you most certainly can't borrow any books here and I admit I am biased - I visited that once and I was completely enchanted! Let me show you why:

The King's Library was a royal collection of books created by King George III and donated to the nation. A gallery, named after the collection, was built at the British Museum in 1827 to house them. It is the oldest room in the Museum and now home to the permanent exhibition Enlightenment: Discovering the world in the eighteenth century. The exhibition is worth visiting but the library itself is...simply mouthwatering.

The King's Library, a collection of over 60,000 books, was formed by King George III (1760–1820) and given to the nation in 1823 by his son King George IV (who needs old daddy's books?).

When the library was donated there was not enough space to house it in the original British Museum building. This led to the construction of today’s quadrangle building, designed by the architect Sir Robert Smirke (1781–1867).

Originally, it was not intended to be a public room. There were two entrances, one at either end of the room, and 12 reading desks to be used by the library assistants. The central section of the room was meant to consist of 12 columns made from Aberdeen granite. The first four were bought, and are still in place, but the cost of polishing them was so expensive that no more were purchased.

You might wonder what these different sculptures, pottery, globes and mineral samples do in a library. It's all about fashion. During the eighteenth century many wealthy men aspired to  show that they were 'gentlemen'. Their libraries contained not only books, but also artefacts, especially coins and medals. These objects were considered as historical and material evidence that could be interpreted in the light of knowledge from the books in the libraries. George III had these ambitions for his own library as well (apparently in those times even the king felt an urge to prove that he was a gentleman - I approve) and had the money to create one that could cover all areas of knowledge.

 That's why his library contained a large collection of porcelain, bones and fossils, coins and medals. These artifacts were arranged in sequences that related them to the chronologies of written histories.

Have you visited it? Would you like to visit? 

Source: http://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/the_museums_story/kings_library.aspx

Review: Chasing Midnight (Roaring Twenties series 01) by Susan Krinard

Book info:

Book format: paperback, borrowed from my local library

Genre: historical paranormal romance

Target audience: older YA and adults

Synopsis:

Allegra Chase was turned into a vampire by her father’s close friend. It was her only chance to live to the full and have some fun. As a teenager she fell ill (something sounding like a progressive muscular dystrophy) and, abandoned by her posh friends, boyfriend and even her mother, she was left to wait for her death in an empty house with only one servant. Small wonder that, being given the second chance, she took it without regrets and never looked back. Small wonder she doesn’t want to swear allegiance to anybody – be it a vampire, a human or a werewolf, even if it means she is an oddball in New York, considered a traitor or a dissenter. Who cares when you can hound Greenwich Village with your bohemian friends in tow, having the time of your life?

Griffin Durant’s parents and siblings, a whole family of werewolves, were killed by a fire when he was just 14. He was able to save only his little sister, Gemma. Then he was drafted and the First World War left his psyche horribly scarred even though he survived. Now Griffin, a wealthy bachelor living in Long Island NY, wants nothing more than forgetting who and what he is. He steers clear of the local pack or, in fact, any supernatural creatures and tries to find his sister a nice, respectable human husband. However a teenage girl during Roaring Twenties is able to stir trouble as efficiently as any of her contemporary peers – Gemma clearly doesn’t share the narrow outlook of her conservative older brother. She doesn't see a point.

Allegra and Griffin meet and have to cooperate because their friends get into serious trouble. Soon enough it becomes obvious that the disappearance of Margot De Luca, a friend of Allegra and a daughter of a local mafia boss and Malcolm Owen, a poor playwright and her beloved, is a part of a larger scheme of a truly sinister character. What will take to discover who really stands behind it?

What I liked:

At first I thought it was just another vampire novel with a kick-ass heroine but set at the beginning of the 20^th century (that’s why the subtitle). After all vampire fiction is as common as muck nowadays. This one was a bit different, though.

Maybe it was because of the period. Roaring Twenties in the USA (but not only of course) were the era of jazz, prohibition and mafia, the time of flappers, a "new breed" of young Western women who wore short skirts, excessive makeup, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, drove automobiles (imagine that!) smoked, had casual sex and generally flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior. Allegra is such a flapper even if for slightly different reasons – she finds it an excellent way to express her love for freedom. Yes, she frequents speakeasies ( establishments that illegally sells alcoholic beverages), has a bunch of bohemian human friends and seduces men but only in order to drink their blood. This novel proves that a vampiress doesn’t have to wear black leather, wield a catana (or another sharp weapon) to be considered a kick-ass heroine. The strength of Allegra lies in her psychological make-up – she can think and she uses her brain, she is altruistic up to a point, she knows what she wants and she doesn’t hesitate to get it. Overall the vampires and werewolves of New York fit that period perfectly, bootlegging, fighting among themselves for supremacy, not unlike in any good mafia, or dreaming about the ultimate supremacy.

Psychological veracity was another feature I really appreciated. Allegra and Griffin are dynamic characters. They fall in love almost at first sight but it takes time before they are able to overcome their own limitations and prejudices. Griffin is shocked by Allegra’s free manners and independence, not to mention the fact that werewolves despise vampires. Allegra cannot believe Griffin wants to suppress his natural instincts of a predator and expects the same from his sister. It takes them long to see that they are really very much alike, even longer to trust each other at all. They don’t jump to bed instantly, their relationship rings true and is a pleasure to follow – in my opinion it was a real highlight of the story. I liked little Gemma and her clumsy attempts to imitate Allegra as well, it was a good move to make her play a bigger role than that of a supporting damsel in distress.

The world building was ok – perhaps not very original or especially prominent but still interesting enough to add to the story.

What I didn’t like:

I admit the plot had its weaknesses, especially at the end. In my opinion everything is resolved far too slickly during one bloody showdown; then main leads and their friends get their orange blossom- scented HEA, bad people kill each other, summertime and the livin’ is easy…at least in Long Island.

I was especially surprised when the elders of the pack, who had an excellent opportunity to fleece poor Griffin, willingly reduced their claim by half because…they feared too much money might have a degenerative effect on the werewolves. Excuse me? You are a bunch of brutal mafiosos and all of a sudden there are no greedy people among you? Have you had an epiphany of a sort? It would be far better if Griffin, a rich, clever businessman after all, found a legal loophole or drove a really hard bargain and snatched a part of his money back. But he, poor puppy, was too busy being in love or saving his beloved Allegra and the pack had to take pity on him…a bit too good to be true, don’t you think? Especially that he and the pack were hardly on friendly terms…

That's how Allegra might
look like...indomitable!

I am also not a fan of the cover art. Seriously, the book is about Roaring Twenties, such a colourful period, and instead of flappers dancing charleston or mafia boys shooting each other they put just a blue face with amber eyes and a were in the background...I would never pick it up just because of the cover. Look how many nice, period-related pics I was able to find in a matter of minutes! I think each of them would be better than the original cover!

Final verdict:

It was a really nice surprise – I liked this book better than I thought I would. It was far more intelligent than your ordinary vampires-and-werewolves story and the setting won me over. I recommend it to people who like their  paranormal romance with  historical flavour, some nice backstory and a HEA guaranteed! BTW there are two more books of this series but it seems each of them features a different set of characters so I suppose you can easily read them as stand-alones. I am definitely going to try at least one more!

Review: Child of the Mist (These Highland Hills 01) by Kathleen Morgan

Format: Kindle e-book

Genre: pseudo-historical romance

Target audience: hard to say; officially Christian fiction fans, YA and adults but I would rather say nobody who likes intelligent books. 

Why I read it?

Recently I’ve bought myself a new stainless steel coffee  press. A shiny and expensive one. Similar to this:

I am very happy with my new acquisition. However, it means  I am broke till the end of the month

 – if I get any new books they will be freebies or borrowed or (very unlikely) won. This one is the first of freebies I found on Amazon.com and ‘bought’ out of sheer desperation. Was it a success or a failure? Allegedly you can find good freebie books around, right? RIGHT?

Synopsis:

Harsh Scottish highlands, 1565.

Anne MacGregor is a born healer but some people call her a witch and avoid her at all cost (until they or somebody from their family gets ill of course).  Niall Campbell, a seasoned warrior and the next clan leader, is mourning his young wife who has died during childbirth. Their clans are enemies – they are stealing the cattle from each other, killing people and destroying their chances of survival. Normal borderlands' cheer. Finally Anne's father thinks it cannot continue this way. In order to prevent the worst Anne is handfasted to Niall (handfasting is an ancient Celtic ceremony, a kind of temporary or permanent betrothal or wedding) although she despises him and he claims he is nor ready for another wife. Well, who cares. The welfare of your people, stupid!

Meanwhile there is a traitor in the Campbell clan who would gladly see Naill and Anne dead. While Niall wrestles with his suspicions about a hidden enemy in his clan, Anne's actions do not go unnoticed. Will they start cooperating in time to prevent the murderer? Maybe but only after they bore the readers to death.

What I liked:

I didn’t pay for this one. It was a breeze to read (or rather to leaf through - it was a DNF) so I didn’t lose much time either. Oh and the cover is nice - I like Scotland's landscapes!

What I didn’t like:

Oh dear. Oh dear. Quick, help me. Where is my devil outfit? Here it is – a bit dusty and worse for wear but still fully functional. Let me start then without further delay.

The plot: it was WEAK, childish, predictable and so utterly cliché that I hardly suppressed laughter. Or rather a burst of evil laugh. Nothing, and I mean LITTERALY nothing, was able to surprise me in this book. You can safely assume the main heroine will come unscathed from every predicament, you can bet the male lead will vanquish his enemies sooner or later and you will be perfectly right every single time. ALWAYS. But…where’s the tension? Where’s the interest and the excitement? Where are those scenes which urge you to read on even though you should have stopped long time ago? The answer, I regret to inform you, is : there are no such things. Still, in the Amazon product description you can find such phrase as ‘thrilling suspense’. Suspense, my horns. Perhaps suspenders but still only those boring ones your granddad would wear every day and never wash. Any claim that this book is ‘thrilling’ is nothing but a shameless lie, one of many buzzwords used by marketing specialist to sell you a crappy product. ‘Sleep-inducing’ would be far more appropriate.

The interaction between Anne and Niall consist of one constant love quarrel which drags and drags and gets on your nerves and drags further on. They  act and think like two moody teenagers but they kiss, sure they do, kissing is one of their fav pastimes as Niall is a good kisser and our prissy, chaste Anne loves that despite herself. The result is a romance based on mutual lust which nevertheless is supposed to remain superficially chaste: a weird combination which I presume doesn’t satisfy either any sensible Christian fiction fan or any ‘normal’ romance reader (and I am neither so…). It remains me of one of these ‘recycled’ virgins – people who have their marriage officially annulled by the Catholic church no matter whether it has been consumed or not. Quite a leap of faith, don't you think?

Of course there is a third man to their party, Iain Campbell, who fancies Anne instantly and cannot get over it (rolleyes) no matter what. I can’t remember how many times in my reviews I’ve emphasized the fact that I hate love triangles with a virulent, sulphur-scented hatred. This one was not only bad, it was also completely unbelievable and tepid to the extreme.

 The identity of the main baddie became transparent very early on; still the author wants me to believe poor Niall, a braw clever Scotsman, has been as lost as a child in the mist (pun intended) till the very end and his brilliant fiancée fared just slightly better (but half of the time she is too sulky to reveal the truth). I really regretted she survived her burning – she deserved it more than anyone. In fact Anne is a perfect example of a ‘too-stupid-to-live’ female lead. How many times does it take to be almost killed before you learn, my lady?

The novel is written in a very juvenile style. I would compare it to a work of not especially bright high school sophomore who is dreaming of being an author of one of these steamy erotica novels (rrrrawr!) but she is unable to pluck up her courage to write one really good sex scene because she is a Christian (miserere mei Deus!) and she wants to keep it DECENT. As a result she is like FOREVER running in circles and never getting to the point. Adorable - a perfect torture device.

Finally…it is supposed to be a historical novel. Ehem…the author makes her characters speak in  fictitious Scottish  (“verra well, my wee bonny lass, verra well! Just give me a bairn every year and I’ll be verra happy!” “Mayhap, just mayhap m'lord!”) but she forgets to change their way of thinking and sometimes their vocabulary as well. I laughed a lot when, after a skirmish, Anne is examining her beloved Niall (he was wounded) and announces: "the arrow didn't damage any vital organs..." Vital organs? ER or Doctor House anybody? But wait, it is supposed to be 16th century Scotland, right? 

Houston, we have a problem...

Final verdict:

I suppose this book was born as a steamy romance and then it's undergone some bowdlerization and was masqueraded as a Christian fiction novel in order to suit the market needs. Woohoo – the idea straight from hell!  Now seriously: it was bad – very bad indeed. A perfect example of a book that shouldn’t have existed. In order to detoxicate my system I found a nice scientific paper: Numerical solution of seven-order Sawada-Kotara equations by homotopy perturbation method by M. Ghasemi , A. Azizi and M. Fardi. Solitary-wave solution...hmmm. Now I will be all right.

The Most Fascinating Libraries of the World 01 - Trinity College Library in Dublin

I've visited a friend's blog recently and I was literary blown over by a picture of one of the most fascinating libraries around - Trinity College Library in Dublin, Ireland. It also gave me an idea of a series of posts about the best, the most beautiful, the strangest and the biggest libraries there are. The libraries that can make you drool, where you would be able to spend an indefinite period of time without noticing, where you would like to live and die till the end of the world (if they only served coffee and cake). Perhaps you can't visit them all  but what is the Internet for? I'll try to illustrate my posts as well as it is only possible, providing, I hope, a nice tour for every visitor around. Enjoy!

Let me start with the library which provided the very idea - 

Trinity College Library in Dublin.

 It is the largest library in Ireland and, as a "copyright library", it has legal deposit rights for material published in the Republic of Ireland; it is also the only Irish library to hold such rights for the United Kingdom.The Library proper occupies several buildings, four of which are on the campus of Trinity College itself and another at St. James's Hospital, Dublin.The Library’s history dates back to the establishment of the College in 1592.

What do you reckon? Worth visiting? ;)

More info can be found on site of the library: http://www.tcd.ie/Library/

Review: Phantom by Jo Nesbo (Harry Hole 09)

Book info:

Form: Kindle format

Genre: thriller, crime mystery

Target audience: adults

"My name's Harry and I come from Hong Kong. Where is she?"

The man arched an eyebrow. "The Harry?"

"Since it has been one of Norway's least trendy names for the last fifty years, we can probably assume it is."

Synopsis:

After three years of more or less quiet and healthy life Harry Hole returns to Oslo from his exile in Hong-Kong. Of course  he starts having a lot of trouble immediately. Is it bad? Not necessarily – he loves it all: issues, being miserable, chasing after criminals, fighting his own demons and flesh-and-blood opponents as well, deduction and crime-solving, more issues, being more miserable, drinking Jim Beam… 

Anyway his main problem this time revolves around the premature and rather violent death of a young drug dealer and addict called Gusto Hanssen. He was shot – a crime like many others, the local cops don't care a fig about such victims. The problem is that Gusto was a partner in crime and a close friend of Oleg, the son of Harry's most serious love interest, Rakel. Oleg, now aged 18 and a drug fiend himself, is remanded in custody, accused of murdering his associate; the outlook for him is rather bleak as DNA tests show clearly he was present at the crime scene. That’s why Harry, although no longer a young, energetic police officer, wants to investigate that murder, apparently already solved, so much. He thinks he owes Oleg for not being there for him all those years. After all Harry has always been a kind of father-figure to the boy and he doesn’t feel like deserting him and his mother in dire straits. Soon Harry finds the whole case a real challenge – he is overwhelmed with the number of possible suspects; he needs more evidence and evidence is scarce. Is somebody actively hindering his investigation?

Before he faces the truth Harry will have to unravel the current drug-scene to find out who is the man with the nick of ‘Phantom’ both Gusto and Oleg were working for. He’ll find out there is a new synthetic drug around, called "violin", similar to heroin but far more potent, playing hellish havoc with Oslo's junkie population. His investigation will reveal police and local-government corruption and (nothing new, really) it will become increasingly dangerous to all interested parties. Will Hole outsmart his opponents and survive once again?

What I liked:

First let me tell you that I have read all Harry Hole novels available so far (here you can find all Nesbo's books in order if you are curious) and it seems to me ‘Phantom’ is one of the best, if not the best, of all. It is a great mix – an interesting detective story with acute social commentary on the downside of drug abuse and the clash between new wealth and old values. Even if you don’t live in Norway (I don’t) you can relate. Mind you the author never gets sentimental which is great.

Nesbo adopts an interesting handful of P.O.V.s, presenting not only Gusto's dying thoughts along with Harry's real-time hectic investigation but also some insight into the thoughts of a female rat (sic!). In fact the rat opens the whole novel and then resurfaces at the beginning of each of the novel's five sections. I am not sure a rat can think as coherently and clearly as it was written here but it was a nice, original idea anyway, adding to already a very dynamic narrative. And it was fun.

I'm usually not a person who can pick spot-on the identity of a murderer in a decent whodunit (I think I am too stupid or too lazy or both) so small wonder I missed nearly every clue and certainly did not see the ending coming (one big twist, believe me!). Still it was one heck of a ride, rollercoaster as usual, nothing less, which I enjoyed immensely. Be warned: this book is a compulsive page-turner, reading from time to time like Jason Bourne’s adventures.

However the biggest asset of this series is, in my humble opinion, the psychological veracity and dynamics of both baddies and protagonists. All of them are flawed, all of them have good and bad days, ups and downs, almost like in real life. The baddies tend to be smart, charming and handsome, you can’t help pitying some of them and our lonely ex-detective has to perform top notch to outsmart them in time. Harry also changes as he is plagued by bad memories and different ‘ghosts’ because, let’s face it, his ‘job’ is not easy and hardly ever done. It's only too normal that he breaks down regularly (who wouldn’t), drinking or taking drugs. It is also a reason why it is great to start reading about him from the very beginning although Phantom, like other parts featuring Hole, can be easily a stand-alone book. Still it is so very nice to find some of the plot themes from the previous books coming together.

What I didn’t like:

I admit the book was a tiny little bit overwritten. I was especially surprised that dying took poor Gusto so long. He was an addict on forced withdrawal, mortally wounded because shot more than once from a very close distance, lying in a horrible junkie den, bleeding heavily...and he actually managed to tell his part of the story to the very end in a lucid way. This was probably the weakest part of this book although I did see the point of Gusto’s narrative. Oh well, it is just a fictional story, isn’t it? Still a brave, motivated editor, not afraid of cutting out this or that, could have made this a tighter, more edgy novel.

My second complaint concerns Harry himself. Sometimes he acts as if he was immortal and he knew it (and his enemies not, ha ha, let surprise the b******ds one more time!). Unlike ordinary, mortal folk he doesn’t care much about his own health and safety: he goes to meetings with a possibly deadly outcome almost unprepared, he hardly ever eats or sleeps. After a while it starts being a bit silly. In ‘Phantom’ our brave ex-detective sews up his own partially cut throat and chin using a simple, non-sterilized needle and a black thread (don’t try that at home) and, instead of visiting a friendly doctor or at least a voluptuous nurse soon afterwards to have it done properly, he goes out to dig out a corpse from a grave. Hey mister, have you ever heard of sepsis? Oh, sorry, you are immortal, I forgot…Then he turns off half of the city’s power supply instantly and mind you, he does it with just one single phone call. A regular Superman, don’t you think? I almost crooned ‘my hero!’ I wish I could solve such mundane (and far less complicated) problems as a mistake in an invoice or an outstanding payment that way - one phone call and it is done. No such luck so far.

Finally I am not a big fan of the cover art - it seems too bland and generic. Not hearing anything about the book itself I would hardly glance at it and move on.

Final verdict:

Despite  minor shortcomings I liked this novel very much. Still I must warn you the author left deliberately some significant loose ends (it is, in fact, a steep, sharp cliffie, sharper than rat’s teeth, be warned). It is really hard to predict where Harry’s going from here but if there is a new book available next year, I am going to preorder it for sure. Just for the heck of it let me predict how the series will end. In other words…

How to kill Harry Hole?

It is really simple. No need of guns, sophisticated torture devices, madmen or poison. In fact the more obstacles you throw his way, the stronger Harry is. However, try keeping him satisfied and happy in a fluffy-warm, fully functional family straight from a soap opera for three months and he will wilt by the excess of happiness like a plant exposed too long to direct sunlight. He might kick the bucked even sooner, let’s say after a mere month, if his beloved Rakel and Oleg join him there - it’s enough Oleg whispers ‘dad’ every day and Rakel hugs him tightly. ;)

Musical Monday 4th of June

Welcome to Musical Monday! 

How many songs you know combine great music with intelligent, sensible lyrics which can teach something even the most obtuse student? I might be wrong but in my humble opinon the number is definitely finite. However I am happy to present this week one of such rare songs by Florence and the Machine. It should be called "My Chemical Romance" but its official title is 'Strangeness and  Charm' - and that's the only flaw. Even sworn, die-hard humanists might start loving science after listening to it! Enjoy!

Hydrogen in our veins, it cannot hold itself, my blood is burning
And the pressure in our bodies, that echoes up above, it is exploding
And our particles that burn, it is all because they yearn for each other
And although we stick together, it seems that we are estranging one another

So, Feel it on me love
Feel it on me love
Feel it on me love
(Strangeness and Charm)

See it on me love
See it on me love
See it on me love
(Strangeness and Charm)

And atom to atom oh can you feel it on me love and
A pattern to pattern oh can you see it on me love
Atom to atom oh what's the matter with me love

Strangeness and Charm

The static from your arms, it is a catalyst
You're a chemical that burns, there is nothing like this
It's the purest element, but it's so volatile
An equation heaven sent, a drug for angels

Strangeness and Charm

Feel it on me love
Feel it on me love
Feel it on me love
(Strangeness and Charm)

See it on me love
See it on me love
See it on me love
(Strangeness and Charm)
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/f/florence_and_the_machine/strangeness_and_charm.html ]
And atom to atom oh can you feel it on me love and
A pattern to pattern oh can you see it on me love
Atom to atom oh what's the matter with me love

Strangeness and Charm

The static from your arms, it is a catalyst
You're a chemical that burns, there is nothing like this
It's the purest element, but it's so volatile
An equation heaven sent, a drug for angels

Strangeness and Charm
Yeahhhhh so, Jump
Strangeness and Charm
Yeahhhhh so, Jump
Strangeness and Charm
Yeahhhhh so, Jump
Strangeness and Charm 
Yeahhhhh, oh yeah
Strangeness and Charm

The static from your arms, it is a catalyst
You're a chemical that burns, there is nothing like this
It's the purest element, but it's so volatile
An equation heaven sent, a drug for angels

Feel it on me love
Feel it on me love
Feel it on me love
(Strangeness and Charm)

See it on me love
See it on me love
See it on me love
(Strangeness and Charm)

Feel it on me love
Feel it on me love
Feel it on me love
(Strangeness and Charm)

See it on me love
See it on me love
See it on me love
(Strangeness and Charm)

Oh, Oh, Down, Down down down
Oh, Oh, Down, Down down down
Oh, Oh, Down, Down down down
Oh, Oh, Down, Down down down
Ha
---
Now something about hydrogen, just to prove how educational these lyrics really are:

Hydrogen is found all throughout the universe. It is very flammable and is also found in most life forms, especially plants. We consume daily doses of hydrogen through water and food.
It is the first element in Group 1 of the periodic table. Ordinary hydrogen gas is made up of diatomic molecules (H2) that react with oxygen to form water (H2O) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), usually as a result of combustion. A jet of hydrogen burns in air with a very hot blue flame. The flame produced by a mixture of oxygen and hydrogen gases (as in the oxyhydrogen blowpipe) is extremely hot and is used in welding and to melt quartz and certain glasses. Hydrogen gas must be used with caution because it is highly flammable; it forms easily ignited explosive mixtures with oxygen or with air (because of the oxygen in the air). At high temperatures hydrogen is a chemically active mixture of monohydrogen (atomic hydrogen) and the normal diatomic hydrogen.

Hydrogen has a great affinity for oxygen and is a powerful reducing agent.

It is theoretically possible for hydrogen to exhibit the properties of a metal, such as electrical conductivity. Although researchers have been able to squeeze hydrogen into liquid and crystalline solid states through applications of intense heat, cold, and pressure, the metallic form eluded them until 1996. By compressing liquid hydrogen to nearly 2 million atmospheres pressure and a temperature of 4,400K, a team at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory created metallic hydrogen for a millionth of a second. While there is no practical application for the accomplishment, proof of the existence of a metallic form of hydrogen may have implications for theories of how Jupiter's magnetic field is produced.


How easier it is to remember all this info having the song lyrics in mind...

My source: http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A0858720.html#ixzz1wS1kKGMu