Satori.

Here's the dictionary.com definition of this word:

sa·to·ri ( P ) Pronunciation Key (sä-tôr, -tr, s-)
n. Buddhism
A spiritual awakening sought in Zen Buddhism, often coming suddenly.

I've come across this term many times as I read about Eastern philosophies. Though my core beliefs are more closely aligned to Daoism, I have a keen interest in Zen. The concept of satori is a curious one, and it's only recently I came to understand it. You can't go questing after enlightenment, it just happens. There's plenty of stories where something innocuous occurs to a person, and they become instantly enlightened. My favourite Zen story, however is this:

There is an Indian story of a marvelous medicine that could cure all ills. However, it only worked if you didn't think of a monkey when you swallowed it.

Always makes me smile, that.

I watched National Treasure the other day. My sister told me it was pap - somewhat enjoyable pap - but still pap. Undaunted, I went ahead and watched it anyway, because that's the sort of rebel I am. And you know, I really liked it! Sure, there were massive plot holes and cheesy dialogue, but it was so much fun! An adventure! I love adventures! Especially anything that mentions history and secrets and freemasons and Templar and the Illuminati! I'm no conspiracy buff, but I am genuinely interested in these groups from a historical perspective.

I also read Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code yesterday. Yes, I finally took the plunge, despite resisting for a long time. As with National Treasure, which closely resembles this book, I really enjoyed it. Again, there were massive plot holes and it had a cheesy writing style, but it's fun and I do like adventures!

Most of us won't ever have an adventure like the characters in National Treasure or The Da Vinci Code, but we can still have our fun. Some time ago I stumbled across a wonderful little website called The Stone. It's a puzzle game where you have to interpret the images and clues to uncover the answer, utilising all the resources the internet offers you. Access to the site required the purchase of an eponymous stone, but there were a few free puzzles to try out. Imagine my surprise when I had a look here the other day to find it was now free for all to play! There are around 200 puzzles on there, some better than others, all interesting, and some will leave you stumped for a long time. It's worth it though, as when inspiration finally hits, you wonder how it took you so long to get in the first place.

Satori is a wonderful thing.

I often like to read for a while in bed before going to sleep. I'm not sure it's really the best thing to do, after all to read properly you need to concentrate, and concentrating hard before bed isn't always easy. So, in a break from tradition, I've decided to write instead, because writing needs no concentration!

In keeping with the reading theme, I'm going to review a few of the books I have recently read, so that you (dear reader) may know whether they are worth getting hold of, or are more appropriate as a gift for a loved one you don't really like.

First up: Spartan by Valerio Massimo Manfredi

It has a rather bland cover. Seems to be mountainous terrain with a rather ominous red sky above it. In the middle is a giant floating helmet, slightly rusty. On the back is a smaller floating helmet, slightly rusty. Little to recommend so far.

I've not read any other Manfredi novels, so I thought I'd try this standalone one before venturing into the Alexander trilogy. Good job too. It starts off well enough. A cripple born to a Spartan family is left to die and found by a Helot who raises him as one of his own. Then it goes into some mumbo-jumbo about him being the Chosen One or some such, destined to free the Helots (despite him being a Spartan). Some nonsense about his Spartan brother teasing him, calling him a big girl. Then it gets better, the Battle of Thermopylae! 300 Spartans versus A Big Load of Persians! Then some other nonsense involving that brother again.

I've only got halfway through this and I'm not thinking of carrying on. Perhaps it was better in the original Italian; certainly, the language feels clumsy at times. However, there's a deep seated nagging feeling that simply, the writing is poor. The plot isn't in any way interesting. It's bland, floaty, and slightly rusty.

I rate it 2 hoplites out of 5.

Next up we have Rubicon by Tom Holland

The cover is an orangey red affair, with a nice embossed gold coin and a frieze along the bottom of the altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus. Marvellous stuff. On the back there is a small photo of the author, looking stern. A nice touch. Lets you know who is telling this tale. Clearly he is a man of knowledge. Perhaps he was once a Roman himself. Perhaps.

The tale of the Roman Republic, from the end of the line of Kings (well, call yourself Tarquin? What nation wants to be ruled by a Tarquin?) up to the end of the Republic itself in AD 14. Everyone knows of Julius Caesar, but just as important are the Brothers Gracchi and their reforms; Marius and Sulla and the civil war that lead to the city-state's first dictatorship; Cicero, the outspoken orator; Pompey the Great, first man of Rome and Caesar's great ally then rival; Crassus, the wealthiest man in Rome and wielder of immense power and influence. Their story is told in a wonderful narrative, as Holland leads us through time whilst relating every event to the nature of the Republic itself.

At the start of the book Holland compares the world's first superpower the world's latest superpower, but ever afterwards it is left to the reader to draw the similarities between the final tumultuous years before the Empire, and the world we live in today.

If you're less historically minded, you could just compare it to Star Wars, if you like. I know the thought of educating yourself may be a foreign and scary one to some people.

I rate Rubicon as 5 gladiators out of 5. Highly recommended!

My fellow countrymen, it is my solemn duty to inform you that we are under attack. You may not realise it, but it is true. A few months ago we were infiltrated by low level operatives posing as commodity salesmen, offering gadgetry in return for coin. In recent weeks their operation has stepped up to new levels of atrocity. It is time we made a stand, time to start fighting back.

Petition

The evil shadowy organisation known as "Jamster" have corrupted our youth through our very own television screens! We do not yet have extensive details of their organisation, nor the evil mastermind behind their wicked plan, though we do know some of their operatives. One, known only as "Crazy Frog", is using years-old resources from the internet to warp our minds. Who knows what nefarious propaganda is being fed to us via subliminal messenging?

More recently, operative #0002321 "Crazy Frog" has been joined by #0002322, "Sweety Chick" in a strange perversion of an already deviant 'reality' show. "Jamster" are conning our citizens out of millions of pounds to 'vote' for their favourite 'ring tone idol'.

This madness must be stopped at all cost! Sign the petition, and help rid our country of this evil menace! Our foreign brothers and sisters, join us and make your voices heard before this scourge spreads to your fine lands!

A few days ago it was reported that the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, remarked that US aid efforts in South East Asia would help them win the war on terror.

"It turns out that the majority of those nations affected were Muslim nations," Powell said. "We'd be doing it regardless of religion, but I think ... [U.S. aid] does give the Muslim world and the rest of the world ... an opportunity to see American generosity, American values in action."

This is just typical of the Bush administration. The tsunami is perhaps the worst natural disaster in recent memory and we should all do what we can to help in the aftermath of such a cataclysm. To politicise such an act is abhorrent enough, but to bring in race, religion and the incredibly stupid "War on Terror" into it, is even worse. 50% of Americans have a lot to answer for.

On a related note, the nanny state rears its head once more. The BBC have postponed a docu-drama about a supervolcano erupting in London. Consider that in the past week or so, Bruce Almighty has been shown without complaint on Sky Movies, in which there is one scene where the eponymous neo-deity pulls the moon closer to Earth, causing a tsunami in South East Asia. Rather than rescheduling, Sky simply issued a warning before each screening that, in light of recent events, some scenes may cause distress. Perhaps the BBC should take note.

On BBC2 tonight they showed this faux documentary/drama about a Doctor being taken to court for illegal research on embryonic stem cells. Following this there was a half hour debate, before the results of a viewer phone vote decided whether the jury would find the Dr guilty or innocent.

The cutoff period for study of embryonic stem cells is 14 days, because apparently after this the embryo starts to develop sentience. This cut off is extremely arbitrary, especially considering abortions are legal in this country up to 24 weeks after conception...

The main point of issue was the morality of using embryos for therapeutic stem cells - i.e. treating a patient. Reproductive stem cell research - cloning a whole human - is, in my opinion, something that should be completely outlawed.

I believe it is right for therapeutic stem cell research to take place, as the potential benefits are enormous. We have this developing technology, and we should fully explore the opportunities open to us.

The result of the viewer vote was 81% say Not Guilty. Strangely enough, the show ended with the Dr being completely acquitted by the court, and promptly arrested by and FBI agent and extrudited to the US. I'm not too sure what point the BBC were trying to make there.

On the front page of today's Independent, there's an article detailing how the viewing figures for the BBC have dropped to an all time low. In particular BBC2 has lost a great deal of viewers to Channel 4, following C4's winning bid for terrestrial rights to The Simpsons. The reason for this drop is being attributed to multi channel viewing, but I'm not so sure.

For those of us with Sky or cable, how many channels do you get? I'm not aware of the number personally, but it certainly runs into triple figures. Out of those, however, how many actually have something worth watching? Very, very few. That's the main problem with television these days - we have a lot of choice, but it's like choosing the method of your own execution. What we need is less channels, and more quality programming.

The BBC channels are best for this quality, with some well made documentaries and comedy shows. Channel 4 is also good for original programmes, and even Five makes an effort, often showing documentaries in the early evening. The worst culprit for "cheap telly" is ITV, with endless 'reality' shows and costume dramas.

The BBC is a truly Great British institution. The drop in viewing figures should not prevent it from renewing its charter in 2006. Do you really want ALL channels to have advert breaks?

So, it got to number one easily enough, outselling the rest of the top 40. Not that it's really much of an achievement; anyone who buys singles are being serious ripped off. It's also a really, really poor remake - nobody sounds like they're in tune. Look guys, there's a reason nobody remembers Band Aid II...

However, I did catch the programme the other night on TV showing the making of the new single, and I have to say I was quite impressed. The attitude of most of the people taking part was spot on, and Bob Geldof has put an awful lot of effort into making a difference.

Also on the programme was Richard Curtis, talking about his new project, "Making Poverty History". It's an extremely worthwhile cause, and I think everyone should sign up to it. With Britain as head of the EU and G8 next year, it's time to make a difference. There's absolutely no reason why anyone in the world should be living in such abject poverty as they do in certain places in Africa, especially when you see fat cat "businessmen" rolling around in vats of liquid gold.

Anyone can make a difference. It's about time we all started doing it.