Salute the `gong!

Today happened to be a great day. You see, I'm down in the `gong (Wollongong) at the moment, soaking up the occasional ray when I can catch it, in between 12 hours of back-to-back science lectures and physics seminars. It's quite a nice international conference, the lunches have been outstanding. A barrel full of oysters and prawns every day, along with prawn salads, fresh crabs and octopus. I never got a chance to touch the Barra or steak or pork. Incredible.

And today I sat down with Mr. M (he wants privacy, go figure) for lunch, and Alain Aspect and Bill Phillips sat down at our table with us (Bill got the Nobel prize in 97). There were a couple of other important scientist, and we all discussed what is meant by a "slow" train in France, England, American and Australia. Then I went for a swim. Awesome.

I must say, I have had THE BEST calimari that I've ever had in my entire life down here in the Gong. Outstanding. I'm going back for more tonight. Yum.

Best books ever

In perusing the New York Time's 10 Best Books of 2007 I decided to have a little fun. Here are the first five. Only the titles have been changed. I found the book descriptions ridiculous, so I left them as is. Try to imagine what the real title actually is. Then click and find out. Click on the title-links to see the real reviews.

A MAN GOES DOWN AND WAITS IN A SOCIAL SECURITY LINE
By Michael Thomas. Black Cat/Grove/Atlantic, paper, $14. This first novel explores the fragmented personal histories behind four desperate days in a black writer’s life.

OUT OF THE FRYING PAN...
By Per Petterson. Translated by Anne Born. Graywolf Press, $22. In this short yet spacious Norwegian novel, an Oslo professional hopes to cure his loneliness with a plunge into solitude.

THE WILD APES IN DYMOCKS
By Roberto Bolaño. Translated by Natasha Wimmer. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $27. A craftily autobiographical novel about a band of literary guerrillas.

REALITY T.V. PRESENTS RICKY GERVAIS
By Joshua Ferris. Little, Brown & Company, $23.99. Layoff notices fly in Ferris’s acidly funny first novel, set in a white-collar office in the wake of the dot-com debacle.

CHRIST, THERE'S CHARLIE! WELL, CHARLIE, MEET CHRIST!
By Denis Johnson. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $27. The author of “Jesus’ Son” offers a soulful novel about the travails of a large cast of characters during the Vietnam War.