A Short History of Philosophy by Robert C. Soloman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This will not be a review of the book per se, for the simple reason that I am not qualified to do so adequately. I have studied a little classical philosophy at university, but that was years back. I am interested in philosophy, but hardly have the level of expertise needed to do an adequate review. So instead I will limit myself to what I liked, and what I disliked.

There are two main areas of philosophy that intrigue me at the moment: pre-Socratic Greek philosophy and medieval Scholasticism. Both do not seem to be dealt with in any depth of understanding that I would expect from professors of philosophy at a major university. For instance, when discussing Thales we are helpfully told that Thales did not really think that the world was literally made out of water. Well, no shit. Fortunately, the section on Scholasticism is a little more satisfying in its treatment of figures like Abelard and Duns Scotus.

Throughout the book makes forays into non-Western philosophy to provide a balance and make it more of a worldwide overview. On the one hand, this is useful. On the other hand, these sections are necessarily overly perfunctory, especially the sections on Indian philosophy. The latter has such a rich philosophical history and really needs a book length overview of its own. I would much rather that the authors had stuck to western philosophy. As it is, the book has a self-consciously "look how multicultural I am!" feel to it, especially in the later sections, which was more irritating than informative.

On the other hand, the book did hit all the major figures of western philosophy from Plato to Wittgenstein, so is valuable to anyone needing an overview, such as myself. As such, although I only gave it two stars (as "It was OK"), I would still recommend it.

View all my reviews

Review: 'Monsters! Monsters!'

Monsters! Monsters! by Ken St. Andre
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Monsters! Monsters! is Tunnels and Trolls creator Ken St. Andre's old school role playing game that is designed for "...providing equal time for the monsters". It's essentially a Tunnels and Trolls variant, and as such very old school, very basic, very much light-hearted fun. This ain't one of them modern sophistimicated RPGs. Heck, they aren't even any multi-sided dice used: plain old six siders are good enough for this game.

In this game, you play a monstrous beings and get awarded points for doing evil monstrous acts, such as pillaging villages and killing sissy hero types. You can either choose the type of monster to play, or, as is recommended, randomly determine this through drawing a playing card from a deck. If you are lucky, you'll draw a dragon. Not so lucky, and you'll get a goblin or snollygoster. Them's the breaks.

I won't go into the game mechanics, but suffice it to say that they are very simple indeed. This can be a bit frustrating, but it is also part of the charm of the game. One especially charming section is the spells: "Oh-there-it-is" (detects hidden objects), "Glue-you" (impedes motion), "Slush-yuch" (converts rock to mud) and other fun little cantrips.

I doubt that I will ever run a Monsters! Monsters! session (though it may be fun) - I got this because of my interest in the history of RPGs. And they sure don't make 'em like this anymore. Probably a good thing.

View all my reviews

Belarus 2011 stamp - Endangered Plants of Belarus - Orchis ustulata (P value)

One of the more common stamps that you see on card from Belarus. This 2011 postcard stamp depicts the Burnt Orchid, Orchis ustulata. It is part of the set 'Endangered Plants of Belarus.'

Masonic Center (Tillamook, Oregon)