A bit more advice?

Following on from the previous post, what makes me so laid back and nonchalant about things?

It's partly my experience - my younger sister died a few years ago, by suicide. Now that really makes you think about life, what it means, and how you can live it.

Other than that, I would suggest you buy Richard Carlson's "Don't sweat the small things at work". It is a small book, but if you read it, and think about what it says - really think - and understand it, it teaches you so many things. Not just about work, but about life as well.
I haven't read the original "Don't sweat the small stuff", but I would guess it is a similar book. Well worth a read, for anyone, and especially for people who find daily life a grind.

And very nice to read in the bathtub full of warm, aromatic oil infused water, at the end of a stressful day.

Summer reading

A couple of links, in Nature Methods and Science, for ideas on summer reading.

If there's more, let me know. If I have more ideas, I'll keep this entry on top.

Movies

Went to see Hot Fuzz tonight, and I recommend it for those interested in English comedy. It is good, and if you liked "Shaun of the Dead" you will defenitely like it. It is written well, directed well, edited very well, and all the cast are funny. Timothy Dalton has a gread time, so does Jim Broadbent (a.k.a. Bridget Jones' dad), and there are so many faces you know in it that it is fun just watching for them. And of all supermarkets, Somerfield gets placement. Whether that is good or not, I leave it to you. If you watch it, you'll definitely understand why they are in it and not...Waitrose.
Just as "Zoolander" is a well made American comedy (along with "Dodgeball" - Zoolander really opened my eyes to American comedy, as made as well as that), "Hot Fuzz"deserves the title of the best English comedy...this year.


Also, I watched "The Last King of Scotland".
Forest Whitaker is extremely good as the charismatic Idi Amin Dada, but the real beauty of the story lies in the young doctor and how his naivety and youth gets him where he ends up. There are gems of lines in the movie, especially the last 30 minutes when Idi Amin realises what Nicholas is doing. Lines about a "white boy coming to Africa to help the black (Amin)", "You are the white man, they will believe you (Dr. Junju)" and "You think this is all a game! But it's real (Amin)" etc. The best line in the movie must be the one shouted by Amin;

"Nicholas! You told me but you did not persuade me!"

...I wonder if that would work if you were a PI. Or vice versa, if you were a postdoc.

Anyway, now I have a renewed (and late) interest in the modern history of Africa - maybe not particularly Uganda, but I bought a book on the Rwandan genocide written by Romeo Dallaire, another on modern Africa, and have an interest in the success of Botswana. This is to add to my already long "to read" list, which includes "The God Dellusion". When will it all be done, I have no clue...