If only I had only three problems with Liu Cixin’s novel.
Most prominently is the dense blocks of page after page of complicated science. I have a good layman’s knowledge of astronomy and theoretical physics, but I often found myself skipping through pages that bogged down the narrative arc.
Then there was the early setting of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Most of us in the West simply don’t have the background to fully understand the massive upheavals that that involved in China’s political narrative. Without that context, the story doesn’t resonate with us the way it does with a native Chinese readership.
Most importantly, for me, was the lack of characters I could identify with. I simply didn’t care about any of them. The only one that mildly attracted me was “Big Shi,” the crude cop with uncanny insight. The rest kind of just merged together, like a mediocre porridge.
Rebus gets sent undercover back to “police school,” supposedly for punishment for throwing a mug at his superior. In reality, he is there to ferret out a couple of dirty coppers.
Cracking good police procedural, with Rankin finally getting hold of his protagonist, the marvellous Siobhan really coming into her own.
This is a cookie-cutter, paint-by-the-numbers, caricature of German space engineers brought over to the American Deep South after the war in Operation Paper Clip.
It reads like it was written by a seven-year-old. Hard pass.
If I hadn’t watched the terrific British TV series based on Herron’s MI5 novels first, I would have thought this a pretty good modern spy series. I still do, but it pales in comparison with the terrific TV offering. It’s not often I say that.
Video of Woman Getting a ‘Hug’ From a Friendly Wild Octopus Goes Viral
Natalie Hoage
Wed, April 17, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. GMT+3·3 min read
K A STUDIO/Shutterstock
Here’s something that you have to see to believe! Catherine is an amateur wildlife photographer in Canada. She had an amazing experience recently that she recorded as it happened and then shared on Instagram on Friday, April 12th. She appeared to be sitting on rocks and had her feet in the ocean when a friendly octopus came up to say hello!
In the video, we see a Giant Pacific Octopus with his tentacles wrapped around her feet. He lets Catherine touch him as he feels her legs with his arms. After a few moments he lets go and swims back out into the ocean waters. It is incredible to see!
How crazy was this? I would have been afraid that he was going to pull me in, but Catherine just enjoyed the interaction. The video quickly went viral, and has more than 21.6 million views, more than 650 thousand likes, and over 8 thousand comments. @alt492022 asked, “Oh my this looks dangerous. He is so big. How did this start?” Catherine responded, “I saw him 6 months ago when he surrounded me while I was standing on a small wobbly rock. Then on March 5 while I was videographing sea slugs he charged me and wrapped his tentacles around my leg very aggressively. Now he just gently moves in for a hug or head pat. It’s very cute! I feel we’ve become friends now.”
Another commenter asked how many encounters she’d had with the octopus, and she replied, “Maybe 10?” @bancoubear said what I was thinking, “Kind of scary… it could literally just pull her down in the water.” @Umbryella replied, “They’re strong but not strong enough to drag her all the way down against her own might. Plus it would never behave that way, they’re not aggressive creatures, they’re incredibly intelligent and curious.”
I wondered if she was right and headed to American Oceans to find out more about the cool color changing animal. “The Giant Pacific Octopus is not generally regarded as a dangerous octopus, unlike its counterpart the Blue-Ringed Octopus.”
These are the biggest octopuses in the world, with an average length of 16 feet, but they can reach up to 30 feet! They weigh in at 110 pounds and could easily attack a human if they chose to. Fortunately, they are known to be shy and usually friendly towards us, but they could do some damage. “The suckers (“suction cups”) on the arms can become dangerous if they lock onto a human as they are very difficult to remove.” But that’s not the only way they could hurt a human, “The bite of the Giant Pacific Octopus will not only hurt, but it will also inject venom into its target (although this venom is not fatal).”
The octopuses that have had negative interactions with humans and inflicted injuries usually have done so to defend themselves. If you leave them alone, they’ll leave you alone. Unless you’re lucky enough to befriend one like Catherine!
The Boss is awake. Albertans rushing to catch a glimpse are urged to keep their distance
Bear safety expert says people should stay at least 100 metres away
Karina Zapata · CBC News · Posted: Apr 06, 2024 3:00 AM MDT | Last Updated: April 6
Banff’s infamous Bear No. 122, known as The Boss, has already been spotted dozens of times this spring since he emerged from hibernation. (Tasha Barnett)
Now that Banff’s infamous grizzly “The Boss” has emerged from hibernation, Albertans are flocking to the mountains to catch a glimpse — and some action shots — of his adventures.
The Boss, officially known as Bear No. 122, has already been spotted dozens of times this spring. Chances are you’ve already seen recent photos and videos of him floating around social media.
This is garnering mixed reactions online, and it has bear safety experts cautioning people to keep their distance.
Weighing upward of 650 pounds (295 kilograms), The Boss is the most dominant grizzly bear in and around Banff National Park. He’s eaten a black bear. He even once brushed off being struck by a train.
The Boss once shrugged off being struck by a train and still uses the railways for travel and foraging. Tasha Barnett said she watched him listen for trains, then ate grains that had fallen on the tracks. (Tasha Barnett)
After two years of searching, Tasha Barnett of Bearberry, Alta., finally saw him earlier this week on railway tracks — eating grain that had fallen from a train.
“I don’t think I’ve seen a better looking bear, and I have seen a few bears. It was just an incredible, sobering feeling to see him just doing his thing,” said Barnett, who had driven two hours in hopes of spotting him.
But how did she know it was The Boss and not just any other grizzly bear? There are some telltale signs, she said: His massive size, a missing chunk of his right ear and his shorter snout.
“There’s not a lot of bears that look like him.”
WATCH | ‘The Boss’ spotted hanging out near train tracks:
Infamous Banff grizzly ‘The Boss’ wakes up
2 days ago
Duration0:32The grizzly bear known as “The Boss,” or Bear No. 122, was reportedly seen out and about in Banff National Park.
Barnett said she was one of about a dozen people parked along the side of the road with their cameras and big lenses, trying to get a good shot.
“The more you see on social media, the more it entices people to want to get out there and have their opportunity because he is a big deal,” she said.
Keep your distance, says bear safety expert
Canadian Bear Safety Authority founder John Clarke was an Alberta Fish and Wildlife officer for 35 years, specializing in human-wildlife conflict and bear maulings.
While he didn’t work in the Banff area, he’s well aware of The Boss, who has become somewhat of a celebrity over the years.
He said that just by existing, The Boss is unknowingly raising awareness about the beauty of Alberta’s threatened grizzly bear population.
But with the recent influx of people rushing to Bear No. 122’s usual spots, Clarke said his heart goes out to the grizzly.
“What I worry about is that one day, somebody’s going to get too close and he’s just not going to agree with that space and he might take a run at somebody — and we don’t want that,” said Clarke.
Last year, a grizzly was killed after attacking and killing two people in Banff National Park.
Big males like The Boss typically emerge from hibernation first in the spring, before other grizzlies. (Tasha Barnett)
For the safety of themselves and the bear, Clarke said it’s critical that people remain a minimum of 100 metres away from any wildlife.
“Maybe the day before, he got mad at some people because they came too close and they pushed his buttons and he’s getting more mad. And then today, he bumps into more people. Now he’s even more mad because he remembers what happened yesterday.”
Clarke has also seen the comments of people pushing back against those searching for The Boss, saying there’s enough content available online and they should leave the bear alone.
“The general public is watching out for him and other wildlife,” he said.
Jason Bantle, who snapped this photo of The Boss in 2022, suspects the large grizzly was digging for ground squirrels under stumps and logs. (Jason Leo Bantle)
And while Clarke said The Boss is probably habituated to people now, the public needs to remember that bears are apex predators.
“We all have to stick together and protect the bear and protect the people and step forward when you see somebody doing something wrong.”
Parks Canada bylaws
Clarke said he hopes Parks Canada creates a bylaw to ensure people maintain their distance from bears and other wildlife.
He also said anyone heading to bear country should take a safety course from a credible source.
Photographer Jason Bantle captured this photo of the notorious Bear No. 122 in 2022. Bantle uses long lenses for safety purposes, and ensures he’s near his vehicle should he need to make a quick exit. (Jason Leo Bantle)
As for Barnett, she said Parks Canada wardens were monitoring the area on the day she saw The Boss, making sure people were staying inside their vehicles.
“Because he’s been in this spot for a while, they had pylons out so [people] aren’t stopping on the closer side of the road,” said Barnett.
In a statement to CBC News, a Parks Canada spokesperson said it is illegal to feed, entice or disturb any wildlife in a national park under the Canada National Parks Act.
Violators could face fines up to $25,000.
The agency also encourages people to make noise, stay in big crowds, carry bear spray, watch for fresh bear signs, keep dogs on a leash, stay on official trails and immediately leave the area and report to park staff if you come across a large dead animal.
“To protect this special space, we must give wildlife the space they need to survive and thrive.”
Karina is a reporter at CBC Calgary who often covers stories on renting in the city. She previously worked for CBC Toronto and CBC North as a 2021 Joan Donaldson Scholar. Reach her at karina.zapata@cbc.ca
What used to be a quirky, idiosyncratic change from formulaic spy novels is now more like labouring through the latest Communist Party administrative notes of the latest meeting.
I’ll give Charlie one more read and then that’s the limits of my patience, I’m afraid.
Greer takes us on the midlife crisis journey of minor author Arthur Less — a footnote only because of his connections to other literary lions judged greater than himself, a monumental failure to his own self — as he embarks on an around the world odyssey-like literary tour to numb the loss of the man he loves.
Only to end up exactly where he started, the same as he always was, no different, a success in the souls of the many other lives he has touched.
The book is full of dazzling word play, allegories and similes, and exactement mot juste.
Whether we know it or not, we are all Arthur Less.
Don’t even attempt to read this Eggers novel about [insert your interpretation here; I don’t have one] unless you’re at least a foot taller than me. Most of it just flew right over my head. Or got paved under.
I tried. I really did. I got all the way through 23% of Martin’s Lee Child biography before giving up. In what? Frustration? No, boredom.
Martin may think she is being clever or creative by serving up a mélange of facts about the real-life James Dover Grant — Child’s real name — mashed up with Reacher quotes from the books and her own questionable interpretations of what they all mean.
She should have stopped writing on page 97, where she quotes Grant saying that there is no reason to write any book if it doesn’t have a heart.
Licking Honey Off of Thorns 