2015.12.13 01:00 - Samantha Cristoforetti Riding the Comet

The Guardian for this meeting was Wol Euler...

Qt Core: Hi Wol
Wol Euler: buongiorno Qt!
Qt Core: Even RL is starting to be full of ice rings and skating people
Wol Euler smiles.
Wol Euler: funny how that happens
Wol Euler: and those odd temporary pine forests on sreet corners and parking lots
Wol Euler: do those happen in Italy too?
Qt Core: don't think but i never followed the christmas tree market as i never had/made one, we are on the nativity scene bandwagon ;-)
Wol Euler: ah :)
Wol Euler: do they change from year to year, or is it a traditional item that is brought out unchanged?
Qt Core: even if this year i'm in a big struggle, to buy a couple new harmchair i dismantled and throw away the desk where we usually build it, so i don't know where to put it this year
Qt Core: it is like the christmas three decoration, a famili tradition/heirloom, that usually add something each yera, especially when kids are around, like dinosaurs, power rangers and so on ;-)
Wol Euler smiles.
Qt Core: but the souther you go the more complex you get and each year there are new characters added inspired to current events
Wol Euler: for example?
Qt Core: let say Pope Francis the year it got elected
Qt Core: or Samantha Cristoforetti riding the comet this year ;-)
Wol Euler: I guess the scenes get very big and crowded over time
Qt Core: it may
Wol Euler: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samantha_Cristoforetti
Wol Euler: sorry to say that I hadn't heard of her
Wol Euler: she sounds a worthy addition, definitely in Milan
Qt Core: she may be the Trekkiest astronaut ever too ;-)

--BELL--

Wol Euler: oh?
Qt Core: from that same wiki page: Cristoforetti has been photographed with references to the Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy on her uniform. On her uniform the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything (being 42) next to the subtitle of the book (being "Don't panic") was printed on a tag.[citation needed] In April 2015, when the Dragon capsule bringing the space espresso machine arrived, she posted a picture of herself on Twitter wearing a Starfleet uniform, with the comment "'There's coffee in that nebula'... ehm, I mean... in that #Dragon" (referencing Captain Janeway from Star Trek: Voyager, and her love of coffee), and again with the first cup of coffee brewed on the ISS.[4][13]
Wol Euler: ha!
Qt Core: and there is also another pics where she gives the vulcan salute for Nimoy passing
Wol Euler: http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...-cristoforetti
Qt Core: and obviously she said that Star Trek inspired her to become an astronaut
Wol Euler nods.
Wol Euler: though she's probably one of those people who could have succeeded at anything she turned her hand to
Wol Euler: speaks six languages, has four university degrees, was a fighter pilot in the air force ...
Wol Euler: I'm impressed
Qt Core: yes, i believe that the common trait of astronauts is such a strong will power that they would succeed in anything
Wol Euler: agreed
Qt Core: she may seem a little girl, but i think i would not meet her in a dark spot ;-)
Wol Euler: ha!
Qt Core: this is about her looking minute: http://www.sorrisi.com/wp-content/up...h-1024x683.jpg (that presenter isn't a big men neither)
Wol Euler: tiny :)
Wol Euler: I think most astronauts are fairly small people, actually, the capsules are very cramped
Qt Core: with the costs of fuel i wonder how much they look at people weight when searching for astronauts...
Wol Euler: probably :)
Wol Euler: it certainly limits what they can carry up to the station
Wol Euler: *six* capsules of espresso for the machine?
Wol Euler: sory, fifteen capsules :)
Qt Core: i wonder if they had a caffeine source before that
Wol Euler: that's a good question
Qt Core: they surely could take caffeine pills, but it would not be the same of an espresso or an american coffee
Wol Euler: agreed
--BELL--
Wol Euler: so I just tweeted Chris Hadfield (canadian ISS astronaut, national hero) to ask him that question :)
Qt Core: another of the best persons (really) out there ;-)
Wol Euler smiles.
Qt Core: i thing that both of them succeeded in work so hard without becoming glum
Qt Core: *think
Wol Euler nods.
Qt Core: barring the summer open air theatre (that is too much of a bargain with movies under the stars at 5.5 euros) i haven't seen a movie in a couple (if not more) years this year i went to see The Martian (and i loved it even if a loved more the book as it was really a nerdgasm) ;-)
Wol Euler: oh, I don't know that
Wol Euler: or do I
--BELL--
Qt Core: i read the book in one night sitting, that is how much it got me (then i phoned the office to say i would not be there and went back to sleep)
Wol Euler: wow
Wol Euler: I just watched the trailer. That looks amazing.
Wol Euler: I'll try to see that when I'm in Canada over christmas
Qt Core: would it still be in the theatres ?
Wol Euler: almost certainly not, but perhaps a rental somewhere ...
Qt Core: trying to remember other books that kept me up or immersed so much i forgot RL... the 5th and 7th Harry Potter books, a couple Trek novels, Pyramids by Pratchett and many, many years ago Ben Hur
Wol Euler: I think the last book I had to read to the end in a single sitting was "The Swarm"
Wol Euler: sort of an eco-sci-fi thriller, very disturbing
Qt Core: and a movie in the making
Wol Euler smiles.
Qt Core: in which a lot will be cut as the book (as per wikipedia) is 881 pages l;ong ;-)
Wol Euler: yes, it's a very long very dense read
--BELL--
Wol Euler: the paperback bestseller was 987 pages long
Wol Euler: actual text, plus thanks etc
Qt Core: in The martian movie they had to cut, especially the tecnobabble parts to not annoy the less nerd ones but still got the feeling right
Wol Euler: it's tricky, time is such an enormous pressure
Wol Euler: even long series like the TV Game of Thrones had to cut
Wol Euler: I wonder whether GRRM is actually still writing ...
Qt Core: that remind about the horrible chop and remix they did with The Sword of Truth tv series, could not watch it after a few episodes
Qt Core: Ohh luckily the cancelled it after a couple seasons ;-)
Wol Euler smiles.
Qt Core: just reading the mini-biography of the tv series characters make me nervous ;-)
Qt Core: the only good thing i get from that page is that there could be at least a couple books i don't have... that is from book ten onward
Wol Euler: aha!
Qt Core: mmm, christmas is approaching and i haven't planned any real gift to myself...
Wol Euler: well now yo have an idea :)
Qt Core: in these cases one wonder if to reread all the previous ones before the new ones... but ten it can be long
Qt Core: (and the average size is 6/7 hundred pages)
Wol Euler: I don'T know the series. Is it a single long story like GoT, or separate episodes with the same characters like Terry Pratchett's Discworld?
--BELL--
Qt Core: single long, spanning just a few years, let say 5 or a little more (as for the ones i have)
Wol Euler: that's a lot of re-reading ...
Qt Core: many of the longer dialogue part smell a lot about the author trying to push to the reader his philosophic/politics views
Qt Core: that one may not always agree with ;-)
Wol Euler nods.
Wol Euler: rereading can be a nasty shock, especially after a long time.
Wol Euler: one notices things that had slipped past before
Wol Euler: one has become aware of different aspects of life and the world
Qt Core: yes! i tried Fahrenheit 451 after decades, i can't stand how it is written hated it in a few pages and put it down
Wol Euler nods.
Qt Core: not that the idea of burning books was appealing ;-)
Wol Euler: ha
Qt Core: i need to go, RL is still around
Wol Euler: enjoy the day, dear Qt
Qt Core: You too!