Why are we alive?

Supreme Court rules ISPs not subject to broadcast regulations

2012-02-09T18:23:00.001-05:00

A coalition formed by the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists, Canadian Media Production Association, the Directors Guild of Canada and the Writers Guild of Canada, had argued that ISPs should be treated as broadcasters.

Money well spent.

Heading up to Kingston

2012-02-02T17:34:00.002-05:00

(hey man) oh leave me alone you know
(hey man) oh henry, get off the phone, I gotta
(hey man) I gotta straighten my face
This mellow thighed chick just put my spine out of place

(hey man) my schooldays insane
(hey man) my works down the drain
(hey man) well she's a total blam-blam
She said she had to squeeze it but she..and then she..

Oh don't lean on me man, cause you can't afford the ticket
Im back from suffragette city
Oh don't lean on me man
Cause you aint got time to check it
You know my suffragette city
Is outta sight...shes all right

(hey man) ah henry, don't be unkind, go away
(hey man) I can't take you this time, no way
(hey man) droogie don't crash here
There's only room for one and here she comes, here she comes

Oh don't lean on me man, cause you can't afford the ticket
Im back on suffragette city
Oh don't lean on me man
Cause you aint got time to check it
You know my suffragette city
Is outta sight...shes all right

Oh hit me!

Oh don't lean on me man, cause you can't afford the ticket
Im back from suffragette city
Oh don't lean on me man
Cause you aint got time to check it
You know my suffragette city
Don't lean on me man, cause you can't afford the ticket
Im back from suffragette city
Oh don't lean on me man
Cause you aint got time to check it
You know my suffragette city
Is outta sight...shes all right

A suffragette city, a suffragette city
Im back on suffragette city, Im back on suffragette city
Ooo, sufraggete city, ooo, suffragette city
Oooh-how, sufragette city, oooh-how, sufragette,

Ohhh, wham bam thank you maam!
A suffragette city, a suffragette city
Quite all right
A suffragette city
Too fine
A suffragette city, ooh, a sufragette city
Oh, my sufragette city, oh my suffragette city
Oh, suffragette
Suffragette!

Heading down to Toronto

2012-02-02T17:31:00.000-05:00

All down the street they're standin' in line
with white lipstick and one thing on their mind
Hey little freak with the lunch pail purse
underneath the paint you're just a little girl

Dancin' at the Zombie Zoo, dancin' at the Zombie Zoo
Painted in a corner and all you wanna do
is dance down at the Zombie Zoo

Cute little dropout, how come you pack a rod
is your mother in a clinic? has your father got no job?
Sometimes you're so impulsive,
you shaved off all your hair
you look like Boris Karloff and you don't even care

You're dancin' at the Zombie Zoo
dancin' at the Zombie Zoo
painted in a corner and all you wanna do is dance down at the
Zombie Zoo

She disappears at sunrise, I wonder where
she goes until
the night comes fallin' down again she shows
up with her friends half-alive

You can make a big impression or
go through life unseen
you might wind up restricted and over seventeen
it's so hard to be careful, so easy to be led
Somewhere beyond the pavement
you'll find the living dead

2012-02-02T05:27:00.000-05:00

(Said in Kramer's call for movie listing voice) How about you tell me what you think about this song?

2012-02-01T10:57:00.000-05:00

Turning history back.

Let’s have bizarre celebrations
Let’s forget who forget what forget where
We’ll have bizarre celebrations
I’ll play the Satyr in Cypris you the bride being stripped bare

Let’s pretend we don’t exist
Let’s pretend we’re in Antartica

Let’s have bizarre celebrations
Lets forget when forget what forget how
We’ll have bizarre celebrations
We’ll play Tristan and Izolde but make sure I see white sails

Maybe I’ll never die
I’ll just keep growing younger with you
And you’ll grow younger too
now it seems too lovely to be true
but I know the best things always do

let’s pretend we don’t exist
let’s pretend we’re in Antartica

2012-02-01T09:38:00.000-05:00

If you ever wanted to write your representative, this is how to find him or her:

http://www.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Compilations/HouseOfCommons/MemberByPostalCode.aspx

2012-02-01T04:46:00.000-05:00

Yes.

2012-01-31T17:23:00.000-05:00

I was late getting to church on the morning of my ceremony

Stayed up too late the night before from fingering foreign dirty holes in the dark
The morning sun blinded my eyes and made my skin look pale and tainted in light

And there were steps to climb as I unloosened my tie
As I began to walk the aisle the congregation looked behind

But I continued past the pews and met my angel in a suit with a smile

And as I looked him in the eye I heard my best friend cry
That we aren't fools to fall in love but let 'coupledom' die

Ban marriage
Ban marriage

The minister was drunk and high from his rewrite of holy verse with more lies
But the organist she played with a tenacity and grace that was fine

The whole room was filled with the thunder and flood
Of just one chord; the thrill and clarity of sound

But soon the song went slowly dead and I was forced to take a stand on one side:
It was him or my fag hag, oh well, I guess she was never that good of a friend

After my fag hag friend had fled the minister looked mighty fed and content

We said his rewritten vows that I could hardly pronounce
but was soon drowned out by that organ and the shout of

Ban marriage
Ban marriage
Ban marriage
Ban marriage

The congregation, stunned and dumbed, looked upon me with an innocuous stare
I wept and on my knees I prayed that there be truth and there be light in my day

In my hung-over daze I felt the thunder of God
It was the orders that I take the wrath upon my own rod

Then I repeated my own vows, they were perverted and they smelled of myself

"That there is splendor in the harshness of bum
that consummation makes a grumble and the sound that I have learned called:

Ban marriage
Ban marriage
Ban marriage
Ban marriage
Ban marriage
Ban it all

2012-01-31T13:04:00.000-05:00

Breathe on it
God comes from the light of fire
When I get a hold of it
I can breathe alright

"Breathe on it"
His words do calm my mind
I lose my whole honour
So I can breathe on fire

I may be damaged by the rod
and damned in the light
Sit with all the wicked
Untamed by holy rites

The gasp for air is ashes
but we're breathing for life
being best friends with all the witches
and slaves to our skinny thighs

Bop Bop Bop Bop Bop Bop Bop Bop

Breathe on it
God breathes a mighty storm
I can teach a whole wet army
to breathe on fire

And when I breathe on it
I feel washed and alive
The smell of soot is honour
as I breathe on fire

In the bowels of hell
we will be known for our tounges
Set apart from all the wicked
Under his coat, on our own

We may feel gifted as we blow
Producing flames every night
Feeling warm under the covers
is the air for our lungs

Bop Bop Bop Bop Bop Bop Bop Bop

As I breathe on it
I know I've caught the bug
God teaches whole armies to breathe on fire

As I breathe on it
I know I've caught the bug
I can teach a whole army to breathe alright

----

Here's the album version. We're fighting the same fight.
Hand claps.

Mr. Pitt dies.

2012-01-31T13:00:00.000-05:00

http://www.tv.com/news/rip-seinfelds-ian-abercrombie-dies-at-77-27688/?part=rss&subj=&tag=news-summary-

New Jack White album...

2012-01-31T11:53:00.001-05:00

with a nice single.

pitchfork.com/news/45266-jack-white-announces-solo-album/

I'm not through with you yet.

2012-01-31T10:10:00.000-05:00

She cried "Bingo", you finally clued in

I guess I never thought to look there

What you took you can give back

But I never kept track

I guess I never thought I'd have to

And you wait, wait one cotton-picking moment

'Cause I'm not through with you yet

And you wait, wait one cotton-picking moment

'Cause I'm not through with you yet

She closed her eyes and walked right past me

She crossed her fingers and walked right through me

I'll try to make it to home base

But I never keep pace

I guess I'm always right behind her

And you wait, wait one cotton-picking moment

'Cause I'm not through with you yet

Yeah, you wait, wait one cotton-picking moment

'Cause I'm not through with you yet

Because I'm not through with you yet

Because I'm not through with you yet

----

It's not going to be the same. I just don't have the time. But, I got murmurs. ;)

My first run, ever.

2011-08-27T17:50:00.000-04:00

So, if you know me, you know I hate to run, or, at least I thought. I figured I should at least try it for a couple weeks before automatically dismissing it (for ruining joints, being boring, working too hard for maximal/efficient gains).

So, today I ran for the first time, and used Cyclemeter to map it out.

Yeah, it was tough. And slightly boring, but I'm going to stick with it for a couple weeks through the beginning of school and see how it fits me. Also, I'm going to try a few different routes, as this could help with the tedium.

View Larger Map
http://maps.google.com/?q=http:%2F%2Fshare.abvio.com%2F6f48%2Fa983%2F4d09%2F5464%2FCyclemeter-Cycle-20110827-1615.kml&ll=43.68052,-79.518528&spn=0.007837,0.021136&z=16&vpsrc=6

Thanks also to the Black Keys for making this possible.

errr, same key.

2011-08-10T06:29:00.001-04:00

It's nine o'clock on a Saturday
The regular crowd shuffles in
There's an old man sitting next to me
Makin' love to his tonic and gin

He says, "Son, can you play me a memory
I'm not really sure how it goes
But it's sad and it's sweet and I knew it complete
When I wore a younger man's clothes."

la la la, di da da
La la, di di da da dum

Chorus:
Sing us a song, you're the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well, we're all in the mood for a melody
And you've got us all feelin' all right

Now John at the bar is a friend of mine
He gets me my drinks for free
And he's quick with a joke and he'll light up your smoke
But there's some place that he'd rather be
He says, "Bill, I believe this is killing me."
As his smile ran away from his face
"Well I'm sure that I could be a movie star
If I could get out of this place"

Oh, la la la, di da da
La la, di da da da dum

Now Paul is a real estate novelist
Who never had time for a wife
And he's talkin' with Davy, who's still in the Navy
And probably will be for life

And the waitress is practicing politics
As the businessman slowly gets stoned
Yes, they're sharing a drink they call loneliness
But it's better than drinkin' alone

Chorus
sing us a song you're the piano man
sing us a song tonight
well we're all in the mood for a melody
and you got us all feeling alright

It's a pretty good crowd for a Saturday
And the manager gives me a smile
'Cause he knows that it's me they've been comin' to see
To forget about their life for a while
And the piano, it sounds like a carnivore
And the microphone smells like a beer
And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar
And say, "Man, what are you doin' here?"

Oh, la la la, di da da
La la, di da da da dum

Chorus:
sing us a song you're the piano man
sing us a song tonight
well we're all in the mood for a melody
and you got us all feeling alright

Belgium, or Peru?

2011-08-10T06:02:00.001-04:00

Good acoustic version with a song about!

You left me here for some boy you hardly know from
Spain or France or was it Mexico Well it doesn't
matter now I'll have to carry on somehow You told
me you were leaving as I had just unpacked he
impressed you so much he had everything I lacked
So I guess it's over now I'll have to carry on
somehow You said you'd still like to be my friend
lets face it dear for now it has to end So I guess
it's over now I'll have to carry on somehow... But
I'll wait here for the day your love might come
back my way It had been a year since I had heard
from you, you sent a card from Belgium or Peru
Said you were having fun and that boy just asked
to marry you You said yes so now I'm sitting in a
row in a little church down in Mexico Well it
doesn't matter now you love him more than me
anyhow... But I'll wait here for the day your love
might come back my way My love doesn't love me
anymore My love doesn't love me anymore

You can't start a fire sitting round crying over a broken heart

2011-08-06T07:58:00.000-04:00

I get up in the evening
And I ain't got nothing to say
I come home in the morning
I go to bed feeling the same way
I ain't nothing but tired
Man I'm just tired and bored with myself
Hey there baby I could use just a little helpYou can't start a fire
You can't start a fire without a spark
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
Message keeps getting clearer
Radio's on and I'm moving 'round the place
I check my look in the mirror
I wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face
Man I ain't getting nowhere just living in a dump like this
There's something happening somewhere
Baby I just know that there is
You can't start a fire
You can't start a fire without a spark
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
You sit around getting older
There's a joke here somewhere and it's on me
I'll shake this world off my shoulders
Come on baby the laugh's on me
Stay on the streets of this town
And they'll be carving you up all right
They say you gotta stay hungry
Hey baby I'm just about starving tonight
I'm dying for some action
I'm sick of sitting 'round here trying to write this book
I need a love reaction
Come on now baby gimme just one look
You can't start a fire sitting round crying
over a broken heart
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
You can't start a fire worrying about your
little world falling apart
This gun's for hire

Bacon & etc.

2011-08-06T07:38:00.000-04:00

I'm in love with Cuff the Duke again.

Conveniently I wait avoid these feelings and other mistakes
If only I were taller I'd see past the clutter and plan an escape
I've hollowed out my heart so emotions can echo and drift apart
But they haunt me in my sleep a constant pounding that wants to speak

These infectious little lies are barely breathing they're barely alive
So I swallow my pride embrace these moments that seem contrived
It's only been eight weeks since I conceded my defeat
But it lingers like a scar that won't allow me to retreat

My dear friend no longer by my side
If only you could see what you meant to me
I have to bridge this gap somehow
The past is far too close and the future hangs in my face
These abbreviated thoughts won't affect you in the end 'Cause the sun's about to set on this moment and on this trend

My dear friend no longer by my side
If only you could see what you meant to me
I have to bridge this gap somehow
The past is far too close and the future hangs in our face patiently

Broken glass lines the streets and sparkles one by one
A beautiful distraction created by the sun
If only I could mould these thoughts to boney fists of rage
Instead I disregard them all and I try to act my age
I really want to help you let you feel free
But I haven't much hope left and I'm saving it for me...my friend
The stories that you tell me I already know
Eroding like the shorelines of Lake Ontario
It's true that if I walk away I'll end up right here
The duct tape holds the water out but does nothing for the fear
I really want to help you let you feel free
But I haven't much hope left and I'm saving it for me
I really want to help you if only you could see
That I haven't much time left I'm so sorry
Instead of feeling guilty I'll tie the loose ends
To every word I say to you I can only hope it mends
Soon these hours turn to days like all the years before
And everything accumulates that we chose to ignore
I really want to help you let you feel free
But I haven't much hope left and I'm saving it for me
I really want to help you if only you could see
That I haven't much time left I'm so sorry...I'm sorry

Bless the drivers and use them tonight...

2011-07-28T17:59:00.000-04:00

The drug industry, in a nutshell

2011-07-27T02:46:00.000-04:00

Lu AA12004 is one of the few new (3 in the last decade) anti-depressant drugs about to go to market. They are tested by "Clinical trial".

"If you ask me, this study should have compared the new drug to an SSRI, because they're used much more widely than venlafaxine. ... although there are no fewer than 26 registered clinical trials of Lu AA21004 either ongoing or completed, only one is comparing it to an SSRI. "

http://neuroskeptic.blogspot.com/2011/07/new-antidepressant-old-tricks.html

Pharmacologically, Lu AA21004 is kind of a new twist on an old classic . Its main mechanism of action is inhibiting the reuptake of serotonin, just like Prozac and other SSRIs. However, unlike them, it also blocks serotonin 5HT3 and 5HT7 receptors, activates 5HT1A receptors and partially agonizes 5HT1B.

Basically, the main problem with Lu AA21004 was that it made people sick. Literally - 9% of people on the highest dose suffered vomiting, and 38% got nausea. However, the 5 mg dose was no worse than venlafaxine for nausea, and was relatively vomit-free. Unlike venlafaxine, it didn't cause dry mouth, constipation, or sexual problems.

Yeah. This is what a body needs.

Prague

2011-07-01T13:30:00.001-04:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The last communication before the Eastern Block

2011-06-27T10:36:00.001-04:00

"Please have your papers ready..."

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Ahhh, the traditional exam time posts

2011-06-18T16:37:00.000-04:00

So, been on vacation, in reality, for the last couple weeks. But, once again it's exam time, and obviously there some procrastination going on. Among that, there are always a few videos... so let the roll begin!

http://www.ted.com/talks/maya_beiser_s_and_her_cello_s.html

http://www.radiolab.org/2011/may/31/

http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_dawkins_on_our_queer_universe.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/douglas_adams_parrots_the_universe_and_everything.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/rebecca_saxe_how_brains_make_moral_judgments.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/alice_dreger_is_anatomy_destiny.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/helen_fisher_tells_us_why_we_love_cheat.html
Link to her audiobook: http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/5652331/Why_Him_Why_Her.Helen_Fisher

(The above TED talks all take a bit of time to get going, but they are all GREAT.)

So, I'll leave it at this for now. Anyway, there are tons of pictures and stories being prepared. I'll be traveling until July 9-10th, so there probably won't be (m)any updates until then.

Can you spot a fake smile?

2011-05-15T09:47:00.003-04:00

19 out of 20.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/smiles/

Most people are surprisingly bad at spotting fake smiles. One possible explanation for this is that it may be easier for people to get along if they don't always know what others are really feeling.

Although fake smiles often look very similar to genuine smiles, they are actually slightly different, because they are brought about by different muscles, which are controlled by different parts of the brain.

Fake smiles can be performed at will, because the brain signals that create them come from the conscious part of the brain and prompt the zygomaticus major muscles in the cheeks to contract. These are the muscles that pull the corners of the mouth outwards.

Genuine smiles, on the other hand, are generated by the unconscious brain, so are automatic. When people feel pleasure, signals pass through the part of the brain that processes emotion. As well as making the mouth muscles move, the muscles that raise the cheeks – the orbicularis oculi and the pars orbitalis – also contract, making the eyes crease up, and the eyebrows dip slightly.

Lines around the eyes do sometimes appear in intense fake smiles, and the cheeks may bunch up, making it look as if the eyes are contracting and the smile is genuine. But there are a few key signs that distinguish these smiles from real ones. For example, when a smile is genuine, the eye cover fold - the fleshy part of the eye between the eyebrow and the eyelid - moves downwards and the end of the eyebrows dip slightly.

Scientists distinguish between genuine and fake smiles by using a coding system called the Facial Action Coding System (FACS), which was devised by Professor Paul Ekman of the University of California and Dr Wallace V. Friesen of the University of Kentucky.

How to live forever

2011-05-15T06:52:00.003-04:00

In How To Live Forever, a new film launching Friday in New York, director Mark Wexler (Air Force One, PBS-National Geographic) does just that. Ya gotta love Buster, a 101-year-old chain-smoking, beer-drinking marathoner, and Marge Jetton, a 104-year-old iron-pumping Seventh-day Adventist.

Here's Buster:

More clips here.

International Dance Day 2011 Flashmob @ David Pecaut Square

2011-05-14T20:16:00.001-04:00

(It's here because they chose Joel Plaskett's Penny for Your Thoughts...)

HUGE update coming soon!...

Song of the Day: Cuff the Duke - Listen to Your Heart

2011-04-23T15:48:00.001-04:00

Remember "Song of the Day"? Me neither, but this song has been playing in my mind all day.

http://radio3.cbc.ca/play/concert/Cuff-the-Duke-2009-10-06/Listen-To-Your-Heart

Light is darkened in the rain,
whispers linger and remain.
There you are just wondering who to blame.

Has it passed you by,
like a stranger in a crowd.
All you have are distant memories.

Listen to your heart, baby it'll be okay.
Whoa, listen to your heart, baby it'll be okay.
Whoa, listen to your heart, baby it'll be okay.

You've been looking for your chance,
to get away from it all.
Bu'it's still here while your friends moved on.

Well the time finally came,
but the moment wasn't right.
There you were just feeling left behind.

Listen to your heart, baby it'll be okay.
Whoa, listen to your heart, baby it'll be okay.
Whoa, listen to your heart, baby it'll be okay, okay.

Night is darkening the rain,

whispers linger and remain.

Listen to your heart, baby it'll be okay.

Whoa, listen to your heart, baby it'll be okay.

Whoa, listen to your heart, baby it'll be okay, okay.

--

Gorgeous song. Especially live.

--

And so, naturally, when looking up "Listen to your Heart" on youtube, you get this also awesome song.

Roxette? Very underrated.

oh Dell

2011-04-23T09:04:00.000-04:00

Oh Dell. So wanting to participate in Earth day.

Sending a Super Sale promotion out the day after earth day was not enough for you, but you also suggest to "Save Energy and shop online".

Really? Like, energy energy, or laziness energy? I was planning to go into this whole harangue about box stores vs driving assumptions vs delivery services and trucks vs whatever else came to mind at that exact moment, but knowing Dude, you got a Dell's target marketing audience, I'm going to take a Saturday morning break and just assume it's the latter.

Mmmm, yes Dell, show me how you care for that earth...

In preparation for England,

2011-04-21T14:37:00.001-04:00

I picked up TomTom's iphone mapping software...

purchased a cheap flashlight from dealextreme,

... and can't wait to buy one of these hammock tents from MEC for countryside expeditions.

I did check; there are trees in the UK.

I had high hopes for mlb.tv's iphone app but...

2011-04-21T10:31:00.001-04:00

Lawyers, doctors, journalists, oh my.

2011-04-18T13:09:00.000-04:00

What can't robots do?

Automation of higher-level jobs is accelerating because of progress in computer science and linguistics. Only recently have researchers been able to test and refine algorithms on vast data samples, including a huge trove of e-mail from the Enron Corporation.

“The economic impact will be huge,” said Tom Mitchell, chairman of the machine learning department at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. “We’re at the beginning of a 10-year period where we’re going to transition from computers that can’t understand language to a point where computers can understand quite a bit about language.”

Nowhere are these advances clearer than in the legal world.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/05/science/05legal.html?_r=1&ref=business&pagewanted=all

A typical physician spends most of the day playing twenty questions.
Where does it hurt? Do you have a cough? How high is the patient’s blood pressure? But an expert system can play twenty questions better than most people. An expert system can use the best knowledge in the field, it can stay current with the journals, and it never forgets.

Consider how many people die because physicians forget the basics. Gina Kolata reports on a Medicare program to rate hospitals on the quality of care provided in the treatment of heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia – these three areas chosen because there are standard, clinically proven, treatments that everyone agrees are highly beneficial.

http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2004/12/in_praise_of_im.html

Deadspin conceded. They published a follow up, saying that — in this case — the machine did write the better story.

"The image of the robots typing wins me over for sure," says Carmichael. "And on top of that, in some cases, as we've seen with Narrative Science's story, they actually can produce the stronger story."

http://www.npr.org/2011/04/17/135471975/robot-journalist-out-writes-human-sports-reporter?ft=1&f=1001

This robot journalist can explore its surroundings, take pictures, interview people, perform internet searches, and publish online. Ok, I'm about to lose my job.

http://singularityhub.com/2010/03/18/robot-journalist-takes-pictures-ask-questions-publishes-online/

Baby Yoga Update!

2011-04-14T10:19:00.002-04:00

Updating this here post.

So much of this video makes me angry, especially when they pull out the iPad.

More Kindle, procrastination, etc.

2011-04-11T20:16:00.000-04:00

A browser extension "bookmarklet" (chrome, firefox, safari) allows you to send any web article straight to your kindle for later reading at the push of a button.

http://www.klip.me/sendtokindle/

Or, send articles/attachments straight to your kindle with its personal email address (@free.kindle.com). No spam either; all incoming email addresses need to be pre-approved.

Are lawyers really in trouble?

2011-04-10T16:20:00.000-04:00

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/managing/strategy/article.jsp?content=20110425_10024_10024

These people obviously haven't heard that the four digit hourly fee ceiling has been broken recently. It is funny though; there is certainly a growing discrepancy between what you are reading and what you are hearing lately. These articles keep coming out one after another all saying exactly the same thing, yet every lawyer I'm talking to, new graduate or established, isn't complaining a lick about a lack of business.

Maybe it is a larger problem in the states, and just like good Canadian journalism, it's unabashedly echoed here. The story du jour. I suspect the problem is also magnified in business centres like Manhattan and Toronto, where once would be corporate lawyers aren't finding what they were promised and don't want to leave their chosen path (or residence), and it is from these business sectors that these articles are focused on and are coming from. In truth, I think the dip in new hires extends to the business sector as a whole (don't tell me it's rebounded), and even corporate jobs by the boatload will soon be available for those those who are born for a Bay Street gig. However, in saying that, as a practicing lawyer in Canada even today, you certainly won't starve.

Space signpost!

2011-04-10T10:41:00.002-04:00

In Bristol, there's a "space signpost".

It's a signpost that points at things in space; planets, comets, satellites in orbit around the earth. Press a button, and the signpost will point at the object, actually track it across the sky, and show you the exact distance it is from the signposts location, updated every second or two! It's inspiring and accessible!

Gobekli Tepe, et al.

2011-04-10T02:15:00.001-04:00

So, yeah, it's been a LONG while since I've updated, and that's not entirely out of laziness. I've been reading instead of surfing the net most nights lately, and most certainly not law books ;) I've been on a travel run of late, and for those that don't know yet, I'm going on a two month summer program to Herstmonceux Castle to study international public law. There'll be plenty of updates from there, don't you worry.

But, in this potpourri blog update (you thought I jumped around a lot before?), in preparation for the summer, I've picked myself up a Kindle.

The ebook tipping point came when I found a mound of online resources for free downloads of current books, news and magazine releases downloaded straight to the Kindle (including the New Yorker, w cartoons!), as well as free international 3G internet service. Sure it's in black and white, but it's perfect for email, directions, wikipedia, facebook, etc. I was thinking of a Nook Color for the longest time, but figured that was more just another toy than an actual reader, and I'm happy, especially with all of Kindle's automations, that I went for the Kindle. That, and with little games included (Scrabble, Sudoku, Mathdoku!, etc... ), it was a no-brainer.

SO, to distract myself even further from the upcoming exams, I've been thinking about what to do this summer. The current plan is to travel around Europe for a bit after school, and then maybe a bike trip over the Rockies in late July.

The school in England is located about 90 kms south of London (but only 65 kms from Gatwick airport). So, easy and cheap access to the rest of Europe for a weekend trip.

Yup. I'll be "studying" there.

I've been fortunate enough to visit the castle once before with Jeremy when we went over to visit Simon while he was on exchange from Dalhousie, and it's absolutely great there. They even have a WORKING OBSERVATORY!!!

The above is the observatory figuring out whether a "leap second" was to be added in 2009. In a nutshell, a laser beam is fired at a satellite to which a retro-reflector has been attached. By measuring the time it takes for the beam to return, it is possible to measure where the base station is relative to the satellite and therefore detect fluctuations in the Earth's rotation as well as tidal movements of the land (due to the pull of the Moon). Interestingly, the solar building was not only the first of the new domes at Herstmonceux to become operational following the move from Greenwich; it is the only one where active research is still carried out.
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/rog/2009/01/no_leap_second_in_june_2009.html

--

So, when not spending time on the grounds, current weekend trip ideas include Berlin, Madrid or Barcelona, and Paris, and maybe a cost saving long weekend bike/camping trip to Stonehenge, which is about 180 kms away. And yes, through the wonderful Tori, who happens to have cousins living a short 18 km jog away in St. Leonard's-on-sea, I think I may have secured a bike for the duration of my visit.

Speaking of Stonehenge for a second, which archaeologist believe was erected around 2500 BC, there are many theories as to why it was built. However, they all seem to centre around the idea that it was a religious meeting place of some kind. BUT, perhaps more interesting is the recently discovered Gobelki Tepe.

Located in south east Turkey, dating back to around 9000 BC (!), current theories surrounding this, errr, erection are that this is the reason for and the beginning of the transformation of the homo sapien nomadic hunter-gatherer to the current farming and agriculture lifestyle. These profound changes in our understanding of human societal and cultural development are absolutely amazing. Despite only about 5% of the area has been excavated so far, tremendous scientific research and theories have emerged.

Get this: A current theory holds that nomadic homo sapiens would gather in this area, and had been for years before erecting the monument, and because of the constant and consistent revisiting, sedentary farming villages emerged. Firstly, the hill was ideally situated for ancient hunters. Wild gazelles still migrate past twice a year as they did 11ish millennia ago. Secondly, for some reason they picked this place to make a consistent ritual place out of, for whatever reason. So, more proof right?

Wheat is considered the basis for farming culture today and in ancient times. One of the earliest domesticated form of wheat was the einkorn.

The cultivation of einkorn, perhaps for eating as gruel, is thought to mark the origin of agriculture in the ancient world. "If you know where [einkorn] wheat was domesticated, you know where agriculture originated," says wheat geneticist geneticist Jan Dvorak of the University of California. A newish study aimed to find those whereabouts, and has (read the full article pdf print here... you just gotta love the periodical access given with an active student number...).

Heun and his colleagues analyzed the DNA from 270 lines of the wild einkorn, as well as 68 lines of the larger, cultivated grain, which differs genetically only slightly from the wild forms. In the DNA fragments they examined, the cultivated einkorn most closely resembles 11 lines of wild einkorn that grow in the Karacadag Mountains, less than 30 kms from Gobekli Tepe.

"They show that all the cultivated einkorn is related to one specific population in Turkey," says Dvorak. THIS IS AN INCREDIBLE FINDING. Along with the cultivated wheat came barley and lentils, then other crops, including another form of wheat that led eventually to the familiar bread wheat. Likewise, sheep, goats, and pigs were domesticated in the Fertile Crescent, along with dogs (SN: 6/28/97, p. 400 (pdf)).

Incredible. This seems to be where it all started. It seems that the erection of monumental complexes was within the capacities of hunter-gatherers and not only of sedentary farming communities as had been previously assumed. In other words, as excavator Klaus Schmidt puts it: "First came the temple, then the city." (link)

More good, and obviously biased, reading on Gobekli here.

--

Anyway yes, I have checked out flights from London to Sanliurfa (where Sanliurfa is less than 20 kms outside Gobekli Tepe), and they are currently running about 250 pounds, or $540, with a stop in Istanbul... Gobekli is about 170 kms by road from Istanbul.

Anyway anyway, after the castle (classes end on the 23rd of June), if not Gobekli, which does seem a bit out of the way and hence more of a one off trip(?), we're thinking of visiting Simon in Warsaw, go down to Krakow and Auschwitz, Vienna, and then Croatia to visit Milan. We have our return flight booked for July 9th. Of course this is still very much in the air, so to speak.

--

Ok, I'm not done procrastinating yet. I'm currently looking for people to come along on this trip, as current enlistees are waivering... here's the recruitment email I sent out a couple months ago if anyone is interested.

Ok, I did some research on a Calgary to Kelowna bike route.

TOTALLY DOABLE in 6 days.

- Calgary Folk Festival Thursday July 21st - 24th. Awesome.
- Leave Calgary by bike Monday July 25th - arrive in Kelowna Saturday July 30th.
- Adam/Claire wedding.
- Monday August 1st is the August long weekend holiday. Fly back.

All these events are once in a lifetime opportunities as I see it. Except for Adam's wedding. HEY-OOOO!

Ok,

http://veloroutes.org/bikemaps/?route=63623 (route mapped out)

Around 600 kms. +/- 100 kms a day depending on hills = 6-7 hours on the bike on hard days, 5 hours on easy days. This obviously doesn't include stops, but, if we start each day at 8am and finish at 6pm, that's 10 hours travelling time, for 7 hours max bike time. Lots of time for food and exploration, never mind the early evenings. It's certainly not "easy", but totally doable, and a major accomplishment.

And look at the elevation below. There are 5-6 hard climbs, and don't get me wrong, these are hard, world famous climbs. Rogers Pass being one. Obviously we take the total kms down those days...

Although we may be against some wind, most of the trip is downhill! An ideal direction to do the Rockies if you're EVER going to do them.

On the way, we would pass some AMAZING places and views, with plenty of hostels/motels to stay in (so we don't need to haul tents, etc). Bow Valley Provincial Park, Banff, Sawback Range, Lake Louise, Yoho National Park, Glacier National Park, Mt Revelstoke National Park, and the Okanagan towns of Armstrong and Vernon, are just a few of the major stops along the way... Also, I don't think I need to tell you of the potential bike-wine tours in and around Kelowna as REWARD when we get there.

What a great accomplishment this would be, and to be bookended by two awesome events... it's practically a sin not to do this. I'm currently sending email inquiries to Vienna on how to actually make it a sin.

A few links:
http://www.canadabybicycle.com/bc/day8
http://www.womenscycling.ca/blog/heather-pardons-cycling-adventures/i-couldn%E2%80%99t-pass-up-on-rogers-pass/
http://www.fernandocandido.com/bcbiketrip/bcbiketrip.html
http://www.karlaugenstein.com/bc2.htm
(remember, we'd be doing most of these in reverse... )

Here's one in our general direction:
http://bikeforchildrenoflabour.blogspot.com/2010/07/day-3-lake-louise-golden.html

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Alright, enough for tonight. Back to consuming, and "the readings"... but first, solely on our Property Prof's recommendation, the following Cosby show clip.

This is perhaps 4:27 minutes you will ever spend.

AND, perhaps the best Cosby episode ever...

.....
http://starting-points.blogspot.com/2010/02/turkey-archeological-dig-reshaping.html
http://www.gobeklitepe.info/news.html#main

If you're going to watch this, skip the first minute, cuz it's ridiculous.

Cabaret for a Cure

2011-03-09T22:20:00.002-05:00

The Queens Law Cancer Society once again held the Cabaret for a Cure. The Cabaret is a fun event where Queen's Law students perform dance routines choreographed by Queen's law students. There's also be a raffle at the event with several amazing prizes! All money raised from the event goes to the Canadian Cancer Society.

Yes, the above was basically ripped from the LSS newsletter. So, with the formalities out of the way, here are some pics!

Seven routines for eight bucks, including an arm length of raffle tickets for $10. Stages, the club, was Stages. There's a reason I hadn't stepped been there for 8 years. Actually, there are probably many reasons, but you know what I mean...

Mark, a natural MC.

Rock that shit like it was Nav Can vs. the GFAA, moot partner!

Good turnout... including a packed second level.

So, shooting indoors in varying lights may have finally convinced me to shoot RAW images, cuz the exposures were just impossible to judge from moment to moment...

Chicks love props!

And the chicks apparently liked this too..

First Julia sighting!.. Take a good look, cuz she tries to disappear later...

Exhibit A.

And B... awesome.

That tie is disgusting.

So, so awesome.

Also awesome.

Beata getting her moves down for an India exchange.

Ladies and Gentlemen, your future lawyers of Canada! And all for unquestionably a great cause.

Yup. Solid night. And relatively short too. Got home, and still had time for Albert to introduce me to Tower of Power (So they're playing 4 consecutive nights in Tokyo, and another 4 nights in Seattle. Then they come to Ontario, and play: Ottawa, Kingston, Oakville, Chatham, Mississauga, St. Catherine's, and Markham; we're going to see them April 2nd at the Grand.) His suggested listening tracks:

Up tempo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcmSn3qOMbE

Mid tempo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnwCiR9igBk&feature=related
Mid tempo 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfpFxBLS-bE
Down tempo cover: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWgL-jaxOEw&feature=related

We also discussed, amongst other things, Victor Wooten,

Bela Fleck,

and some amazing ragtime improvisation.

Oh, and this duo...

... who are two are Julliard grads that now just book gigs as a classical piano duo doing all sorts of crazy arrangements.

Yup. Solid Tuesday night.

Plaskett at the Dakota tonight?

2011-03-08T22:27:00.004-05:00

Cuff the Duke Tweet:
I'm playing the Dakota tonight with my solo band the Thieves! Peter Elkas is playing as well. There will also be a surprise guest.

--

Joel Plaskett Blog post:
Posted on March 7th, 2011

Hey Upper Canadians,
The van is packed and on its way to Ontario. See you at Peter Elkas’ residency tomorrow night at the Dakota in Toronto. Might even sing a few songs.
Meaford on Wednesday and away we roll.
Jp

:|

UPDATE:

Photo by lucky bastard Jesse.

Apocalyptica

2011-03-08T16:17:00.000-05:00

Apocalyptica was formed in 1993 when four cellists, Eicca Toppinen, Paavo Lötjönen, Max Lilja, and Antero Manninen gathered to play Metallica covers at Sibelius Academy. In 1996, Apocalyptica released their debut studio album, Plays Metallica by Four Cellos, which consisted solely of Metallica covers played on cellos.

This is AWESOME.

Thanks Albert!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalyptica

IWD

2011-03-08T10:45:00.000-05:00

This is ripped (and edited) from the Wikipedia entry, but I thought it was of interest today.

International Women's Day (IWD), originally called International Working Women’s Day is marked on March 8 every year.

Started as a Socialist political event, the holiday blended in the culture of many countries, primarily Eastern Europe, Russia, and the former Soviet bloc. In many regions, the day lost its political flavour, and became simply an occasion for men to express their love for women in a way somewhat similar to a mixture of Mother's Day and St Valentine's Day.

The first IWD was observed on 19 March 1911 in Germany following a declaration by the Socialist Party of America.

An 'International Women's Day' was established. It was suggested by the important German Socialist Clara Zetkin, although no date was specified. The following year, 1911, IWD was marked by over a million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, on March 19.In the West, International Women's Day was first observed as a popular event after 1977 when the United Nations General Assembly invited member states to proclaim March 8 as the UN Day for Women's Rights and International Peace.

--

The day is an official holiday in Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, China (for women only), Cuba, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar (for women only), Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal (for women only), Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Zambia.

In many countries, such as in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia, the custom of giving women flowers still prevails. Women also sometimes get gifts from their employers. Schoolchildren often bring gifts for their teachers, too.

--

Clara Cetkin 1857 -1933) was an influential socialist German politician and a fighter for women's rights.

Because of the ban placed on socialist activity in Germany by Bismarck in 1878, Zetkin left for Zurich in 1882 then went into exile in Paris. During her time in Paris she played an important role in the foundation of the Socialist International socialist group. She also adopted the name of her lover, the Russian revolutionary Ossip Zetkin, with whom she had two sons, Kostja and Maxim. Ossip Zetkin died in 1889. Later, Zetkin was married to the artist Georg Friedrich Zundel, eighteen years her junior, from 1899 until their breakup in 1928.

When Adolf Hitler took over power, Zetkin went into exile ... in the Soviet Union. She died there near Moscow, in 1933, aged nearly 76. She was buried by the wall of the Kremlin in Moscow.

Zetkin was memorialized on the ten mark banknote of the now-defunct German Democratic Republic (GDR).

--

Anyway, Happy International Women's Day!

New Sloan Album

2011-03-08T07:41:00.003-05:00

New Sloan Album coming out on May 10th, The Double Cross. This is their 10th studio album over a 20 year period. Wow. Has it really been that long since 1991?

Here's the first single, "Follow the Leader".

(I'm totally not sure how to do this... if that link doesn't work, go here)
Sounds pretty good, eh? Chris Murphy song, pop, Beatles-like, more Navy Blues (totally underrated album) than the recent "heavier" (read: non-melodic) stuff. Actually, that's not totally true. I rather enjoyed Parallel Play, but thought Never Hear The End Of It (their double album) overrated overall and totally hit and miss, mostly miss.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of Sloan at the Dakota. Did I tell you the story of when I stationary cycled next to Chris Murphy?...

Ottawa, Montreal, and Reading Week

2011-03-06T08:53:00.002-05:00

Reading week came by and I had this plan to get to Ottawa, and more specifically to skate the Rideau Canal, cuz I never have, and I figured I should at some point. Yes, been to Ottawa a few times, and it's a great city for getting out and about in, but never had the opportunity until now to actually get on the Rideau and experience the last weekend of Winterlude.

So, checked the weekend before for skates at home, and apparently they've been out of commission so long they no longer fit. We stopped on the way from Toronto to Ottawa in Kingston, and picked up some Canadian Tire specials...

And Winterlude!

It was FREEZING in Ottawa (after an apparently double digit Celsius day before) so once settled into the hotel Tori and I only ended up venturing to Confederation Park where we quickly dipped inside a Yurt for some free SOUNDS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM show! David Hickey, of Crystal Journey, played a short non-electric set for us all on his quartz crystal bowls and paiste gongs.

Obviously starving after that we attempted many a reservation upon Albert's suggestions (and where he actually got in to), we ended up taking another suggestion for Jak's Kitchen at Bronson and McLeod that hit the spot. Afterward, we took the chef''s suggestion and headed to the Market for some live music, a pint and a few Jameson's.

Smiles all around.

We were told the Rideau was closed due to weather on the Saturday, and although a bit nervous of the prospect of coming all the way up here without a Rideau run, Sunday 4.2 kms of the canal were open! After a bar brunch at a place I can't remember (where I had a lovely salmon and spinach omelette, along with about 6 cups of coffee) we jumped on the ice near Hawthorne Ave.

Tori, happy to get on the Rideau for the first time in her life too.

It was pretty busy, at least near the mouth of the river, but it definitely was part of the experience. Also, I can't remember who gave the tip to bring your own skates (and not rent up there due to the lines), but it was pretty key.

Below is a brief video of our weaving through the crowd, and a dangerous attempt at skating backward. Really, who needs virtual reality?

We ended up skating about 8.5 kms, skating as much of the available ice as we could that day, and that was more than enough for our tired legs we found out afterward.

So, next day, after a Scone Witch stop (recommended by Jowi and Sarah), more coffee, and helpful directions from a dude in Starbucks who used to live on Indian Road in Toronto, we headed for Montreal for the night, which was pretty awesome.

We stayed with Tori's friends Graham and Lindsay who took us out to an awesome Portuguese chicken place (where I was lucky enough to split that with some steak!), and after to a bar (and kitchen) where we discussed dreams, expectations, visions, Schrodinger's Cat AND ENTANGLEMENT all in one night! Amazing. Great night, and memorable for the most part!

Next day brunch, Montreal sight seeing, and exploring a tip of the multi-level Beaver Lake ice skating pad atop Mont Royal.

Welcome to the danger zone! The things I did to that pylon...

Triple-axle attempt turned into a 1/2 spin air jump. That's perhaps the best description I have of that massacre.

The rest of Reading Week was pretty great too. Caught up in Contracts, and still had time to hang out with the guys for a night or two thanks to Dharam and Sophie hosting a get together at their place....

QLJ Skate party + Olenka + Jenn Grant + Good Morning!

2011-03-05T09:57:00.015-05:00

Queen's Law Journal threw down a skate party in Market Square. Just like bikes, I figure most law students didn't bring their skates to Kingston (always with the gawd damned agenda), but there was a great turn out this balmy Friday night.

Gorgeous night. Great venue too, right in front of city hall, steps from the lake. The zamboni comes aroundon the hour.

After a brief stop over at the lovely and thoughtful Julia's (where her allowance of my music intrusions certainly did not go unnoticed...), off Grad club to see Jenn Grant and Co.

Pleasantly surprise by opener Olenka and her Autumn Lovers. Soldier's Waltz and Warsaw Girl were highlights. A little bit of Cohen influence through out didn't hurt anyone.

Jenn Grant was on, and her new album, Honeymoon Punch, really comes across fun -- at times dancy -- live. Download it (torrent), and be sure to see her here.

Fun skating, good music, great friends, wonderful night; I feel really lucky to be here.

Of numbers and words

2011-03-04T10:10:00.001-05:00

Kari posted an interesting article on her reader feed a few ~~days~~ weeks ago.

New Scientist article: Without language, numbers make no sense

PNAS referenced paper: Full paper available here.

I urge you to read the New Scientist article (it's really short), and if you're further interested, read the paper, although it's not really necessary for my argument below. The author's basic assertion (if you didn't read the paper is as follows (from the abstract):

Here we examine the numerical abilities of individuals who lack conventional language for number (deaf individuals who do not have access to a usable model for language, spoken or signed) but who live in a numerate culture (Nicaragua) and thus have access to other aspects of culture that might foster the development of number. These deaf individuals develop their own gestures, called homesigns, to communicate. We show that homesigners use gestures to communicate about number. However, they do not consistently extend the correct number of fingers when communicating about sets greater than three, nor do they always correctly match the number of items in one set to a target set when that target set is greater than three. Thus, even when integrated into a numerate society, individuals who lack input from a conventional language do not spontaneously develop representations of large exact numerosities.

--

This assertion really threw me for a bit of a loop, cuz, I like to think that numbers are an entity independent of language, and as fundamental to cognition, communication and understanding as language is. I argue that just because the "homesigners" do not have our number system, does not exclude the possibility that they have developed their own number system. This would be consistent with and explain the fact that they never came up with a matching language to associate with our number system. Simply because they do not adhere to the numerate culture of Nicaragua (and ours), does not follow that they do not have an understanding of numbers. I argue that their language deficits sufficiently removed them from their surrounding society and forced themselves to come up with their own system of numbers and counting. I further argue that their number system may be far more fundamental to our understanding of cognition and thinking than our base 10 counting system. Perhaps this is the argument of the authors, but if it is, it is stated in a very base 10 culture based view, and does not allow for, account for, or suggest additional possible innate number systems that are different than ours.

One excellent piece of evidence are the author's words. "They're not wildly off," says Spaepen. "They can approximate quantities, but they don't have a way of getting to the exact number."

Yes, OF COURSE you need to have a word for the number to IDENTIFY the exact number! That is clear, and unarguable. The fact that they do not have a concept of an "exact number" within their language does not mean that our number system is based on language. What I assert is that it is one thing to state that words are required to identify a number, and totally another thing (and a false extrapolation) to assert that without being able to actually identify the number, that you don't have an understanding of numbers.

Just as one would try to identify a "house" or a "tree" without the words for it, identifying exact numbers for the homesigners would be difficult without the vocabulary.* However, this does not automatically equate to a lack of understanding to what a "house" or a "tree" are. Everything has a name, and not knowing the name doesn't necessarily mean you don't understand the concept of it. Instead of precisely identifying the number, they dance around the idea a bit, in an attempt to articulate the idea through the translation into their own language. Presumably, they never found the need to develop this vocabulary for exact numbers. This assertion is also supported with Spaepan's findings:

*There is an absolutely astounding Radiolab audio episode discussing this very issue. I won't go into details here as this blog post is absurdly long already, but there was this 27-year old dude that was born deaf, and never developed ANY language. And in a totally weird way. He didn't realize that when people were trying to talk to him (sign language included), they were trying to COMMUNICATE with him. He had NO CONCEPT of language. He had no idea there was even SOUND! Until one day this woman taught him... THAT EVERYTHING HAS A NAME!!! "Table", "Chair", "House!!!"... He had no concept of "things" connected with "identification". I know. I want to continue this story too...

To be fair, Spaepan offers some very realistic alternative explanations to the conclusion that the New Scientist article draws:

(1) Homesigners may lack stable summary symbols for each integer—symbols that stand for the cardinal value of the entire set, not just individuals within a set (fingers are easily, perhaps too easily, mapped onto individuals).

(2) They may also lack the principle of the successor function—that each natural number n has a successor that is exactly n + 1. That is, homesigners’ number gestures are not embedded in a count routine.

(3) In addition, homesigners may fail to appreciate that one-to-one correspondence guarantees numerical equivalence. That is, homesigners’ number gestures are not used as a tally system. With respect to why, several possibilities remain open. Exposure to a linguistic system that contains a count routine may be essential to develop representations of exact number (4, 6).

--

I totally agree with those possibilities. I also think it's bullshit and irresponsible of New Scientist not to address these possibilities in its article summary.

--

So, what does Spaepan conclude?

A cultural context in which exact number representations are valued, and a social context in which one’s communicative partners share a counting routine and an associated system of exact number concepts, are not enough to scaffold the creation of a count routine or representations of exact number that are flexible and generalize across domains.

--

I am in total agreement with that conclusion. Basically, given two languages and two potential number systems, the number systems have the potential to stay independent from one another. So, basically what this boils down to is that actually fucking New Scientist is the culprit here (or just a very badly written abstract), and specifically New Scientist article title:

Without language, numbers make no sense

is wrong. The better title would be that With OR without language, numbers make absolutely perfect sense to those who use that number system, and that number systems aren't directly related to language in any fundamental sense, as referenced to the transfer, or lack there of, to counting systems between languages. Basically, their title is shit, and mine isn't much better; however, mine is actually relevant to the paper we're both trying to describe. Further, it seems to draw a totally different and opposite conclusion from the paper.

I suppose to fix all this, the title should be, Without language, our numbers don't make sense. Which, makes sense!

--

So, now that we got that New Scientist bullshit all cleared up, let's further delve into this counting and numbers system, shall we? Maybe go back to the ideas originally introduced with the number systems, and explore some idea of what the homesigners have in mind, so to speak.

As with most of my knowledge, the discussion below comes from an excellent Radiolab episode about numbers and their innate calibration, where I basically borrow what they talk about.

So, when discussing innate traits, we need to look at babies and young children. And we need to set up experiments to be able to observe, without influencing, their ability to count, and more specifically, to observe and not influence their number system.

Currently, Stanislas Dehaene is one of the leading researchers in the field of number sense, and he specifically focuses on babies, and the number sense that they understand.

For a long time people thought that we came into the world with no innate sense of numbers. We came into the world empty with no concept of numbers and numbering, and that we developed an understanding numbers only after we were taught them. Thanks to Dehaene, we now know that this is completely wrong.

One of Dehaene's experiments is as follows. He hooks up 2-3 month olds to a brain activity monitor, and sits them in front of a computer screen. He then passes in front of them a series of 8 ducks. The children not not only react visibly to the ducks, but this is also confirmed with stimulated brain activity. So Dehaene continues to show 8 more ducks on the screen, then passes 8 more, then 8 more, and so one. Eventually, habituation occurs, and the children's brain activity and visible interest decreases.

Then he passes 8 trucks on the screen. Once again brain activity increases with the new stimuli. Then again the pattern is repeated... 8 trucks, 8 trucks, 8 trucks... until habituation once again occurs and brain stimulation decreases.

--

Now, once again he passes the 8 ducks on the screen. 8 ducks, 8 ducks, 8 ducks... Once again, initial brain stimulation, and then subsequent habituation occurs. This is where the experiment changes.

He puts 16 ducks on the screen.

What do you think happens in the brains of these 2-3 month old children?

Yup, brain stimulation. BUT, brain stimulation in a DIFFERENT AREA of the brain to where the stimulation originally occurred to when the 8 trucks were on the screen.

So, through subsequent experiments, Dehaene finds a pattern. Babies are REALLY GOOD at noticing the difference between 8 and 16 ducks, or 10 and 20 ducks. BUT, if shown 10 and the 11 ducks, there is no subsequent brain stimulation. He found that babies are really good at generally recognizing the difference between large differences in numbers. It's basically a significantly different pattern that they are recognizing, and really, this shouldn't be that surprising. Babies aren't really "detail oriented", and this should not be come as a shock.

However, this is where it gets interesting.

Dehanene did find a pattern in baby number recognition. Babies seem to experience these patterns, these numbers, these quantities in a logarithmic pattern. They will notice number changes on a logarithmic scale. Babies seem, plainly, to be able to innately count within a logarithmic base.

So, a little background on logarithmic numbers. Think about the distance between the numbers 1 and 2. It's 1. Now, think about the distance between 9 and 10. It's also 1. However, on a logarithmic scale, the difference between 1 and 2 is DOUBLE! 2 is TWICE as big as 1! This obviously does not hold for the difference between 9 and 10.

We think about the distance between these numbers in "discrete ordered chunks". They are integers. However, logarithmically speaking (and thinking like a baby), the distance between 1 and 2 is huge, and is equivalent to the distance between 9 and 18, not 9 and 10. So, logarithms think in ratios between number differences.

--

So, why do we as adults think in terms of discrete packages when as children we seem to have evolutionarily developed this innate logarithmic counting system?

Do we just naturally develop this learned discrete numbers counting system? Well, not exactly, as it turns out.

--

Dehaene argues that if left to your own devices, we'd never switch.

Dehaene's observations of Amazonian tribes confirmed that some do not have discrete number counting systems, and some continue to count in a logarithmic scale! This is similar to the findings of the original New Scientist paper discussed originally.

Get this experiment.

On one side of a line you place 1 object. On the other side you place 9 objects. Dehaene asked tribe members to tell him the EXACT number in between 1 and 9.

The answer to us is pretty obvious, right?

5.

But guess what they answered?

3.

So, ummm, why?

"This is a bit tricky, but the gist is if you're thinking in ratios (on a logarithmic scale), and you're starting at 1, and you multiply by 3, you get to 3, and then again, hey hey, you multiply by 3 again, you get to 9!

So, to them, those are equal jumps on either side.

3 is to 1 as 9 is to 3.

This jump feels intuitively simply like the middle to these people! AND, these are the numbers that we all naturally feel and have innately as children!!! ... or, this is Dehaene's theoretical claim. Which is kinda actually AWESOME!

--

So what are the possible implications of this innate natural logarithmic number system we have as babies? Why do we think about numbers the way we do rather than the way we innately do?? Are they just human constructions??

There does seem to be this human condition where we are more exact with our numbers, and this seems to make sense in our world. Evolutionarily, it would seem, we never needed to be exact with numbers, and therefore never developed the discrete number system. Subsequently, current day pressures in our society and culture seem to place an added burden on us. Just as language, we are taught this "unnatural" number system. Pretty cool! So, to reiterate, given our current environment, we place a greater importance on discrete number systems, BUT, that doesn't mean that other, namely the logarithmic number system, isn't innate in all of us. Or, to remove the double negative and to follow the evidence, it appears that our innate number system may be logarithmic.

Does this logarithmic way of counting ring a bell with anyone else??:

http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/cells/scale/

http://htwins.net/scale/

We innately count in powers of 10! We innately understand the size of everything based on the powers of 10! We just unlearn it!

--

Over the first few years of child development, we gradually learn to "count". Susan Carey, Department of Psychology at Harvard University, has run experiments trying to figure out the way we learn how to count.

So, you take your two-year old at home, and you throw a bunch of pennies in front of them. You then say to the child, "Can you give me 1 penny?" And the child will pick up one penny and give it to you.

Congratulations kid.

Now you ask, "Can I have two pennies?" Well, these Einsteins just pick up a handful of pennies and hand them to you.

And so they've handed you a bunch of pennies. Well, in fact, it is argued, that they don't know the concept of "more than one" for about 9 months. BUT, that's the only concept that have at 9 months. 1, and then more than 1. Then, over time they start to understand 3. Then 4. Then 5, and so on. This gradual process usually takes about 3.5-4 years.

So, after YEARS of people asking them, "Hey, do you even know how to even COUNT?", they finally drop their innate "more than one" concept of numbers. This also tends to happens AFTER they actually learn the number vocabulary itself. They (most) will be able to count out the words from 1 to 10 WELL BEFORE they have the concept of what the hell they are actually talking about!

Stupid Kid.

And gradually, they develop this concept of integers... 5 is one greater than 6, and 9 is one greater than 10.

And this, Susan Carey argues, is a change in our innate number system. She further argues that no other animals have this. These numbers that we have, are not actually innate. So just as language, and independent of language, we learn this integer system.*

*This is also fairly similar to the way we learn to connect concepts of vocabulary to language. Further discussed here. Which, thinking about it,-may- be an argument for the discrete number system being connected with language. However, as shown above and below, these things are developed independently. BUT, it is an interesting concept, and maybe I'll jump back into it later on in the year. As in, how is "thinking"/"consciousness" connected with the integer number system and ultimately "language". To seed this a bit, do babies, before they can count or before they develop language, have consciousness? Hmmm.. spacial and mirror studies suggest that they don't. Ok, back to this number logarithmic thing... for now.

--

What additional possible advantage does evolution have to endow us with a logarithmic counting system as opposed to a discrete numeric counting system? What may be interesting is to look at how animals count. Let the Clever Hans discussion begin!

But seriously, there does seem to be evidence that animals count in a logarithmic AND/OR discrete number ways, depending on the animal. Some examples:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-animals-have-the-ability-to-count

Although Brannon feels that animals do not have a linguistic sense of numbers—they aren’t counting “one, two, three” in their heads—they can do a rough sort of math by summing sets of objects without actually using numbers, and she believes that ability is innate. Brannon thinks that it might have evolved from the need for territorial animals “to access the different sizes of competing groups and for foraging animals to determine whether it is good to stay in one area given the amount of food retrieved versus the amount of time invested.”

--

Animals in general: http://www.apa.org/monitor/oct07/goforth.aspx

[M]any animals practice arithmetic, though in different, often less precise ways than humans, according to new research and summary data presented at APA's 2007 Annual Convention . . .

"As the difference between the sets gets bigger, performance increases," Beran said. "It's easier to tell the difference between six versus two than it is three versus two."

"These are mathematical abilities that appear to be part of a primitive mathematical toolkit for reasoning about numerical values," Cantlon said.

--

Of monkeys: http://www.livescience.com/2160-monkeys-math-humans.html

The researchers now want to learn more about what this primitive math system in monkeys is capable of "and whether it is the evolutionary basis of human mathematical thinking," Cantlon said. "We are also interested in whether this primitive mathematical system forms the basis of mathematical development in human children."

--

Dolphins: http://tursiops.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1793

For a three-year study, two male Bottlenose dolphins, Talon and Rainbow, were presented with two blackboards containing differing and varying size dots.

The dolphins were then asked to choose the blackboard containing the "less" amount of dots and chose the correct blackboard eighty percent of the time.

Too many men, Dolphins.

--

Potential conflicting study: http://www.livescience.com/7025-monkeys-babies-math.html

"We conclude that the babies are showing an internal representation of 'two-ness' or 'three-ness' that is separate from sensory modalities and, thus, reflects an abstract internal process," said Elizabeth Brannon of Duke University.

Previous work with monkeys yielded similar findings.

"These results support the idea that there is a shared system between preverbal infants and nonverbal animals for representing numbers," Brannon said.

--

Elephants count discrete numbers??: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4660924.ece

“I couldn’t believe it at first,” said Irie, “They could instantly compare numbers like six and five."

--

Why do elephants need to learn how to count???: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/aug/21/elephants.arithmetic

It is not obvious why elephants should need this mathematical faculty in the wild. "It really is tough to figure out why [elephants] would need to count," said Mya Thompson, an ecologist at Cornell University who studies elephants.

One possibility is that they use it to keep track of other members of their herd so that no individual is left behind. Asian elephants live in close-knit groups of six to eight. "You really don't want to lose your group members," she said.

--

Basically, this is all support that scientists should talk and read more to scientists outside their field, but who knows. Also, there are undoubtedly standardization issues.

Anyway, it does seem that discrete number systems can arise from social and cultural groupings (elephants), but don't necessarily have to (humans).

I'm basically as confused as ever, but the implications of all this research are quite fun, and all points to numbers and counting as developing entirely independently of words and language, which is basically what I set out to do. So, awesome.

However, I'm still not sure... especially when consciousness is thrown into the mix. As in, is conscious necessary for a discrete counting system? Forget it for now... I'm going to bed.

Greatest iphone app ever.

2011-03-04T07:35:00.001-05:00

Google Translate. And it's freeeeee!

Here's a video demonstration I made on how it works!!! This app is absolutely amazing.

Oh, like you've never been there.

Needless to say (once again), this app is amazing.

Lowest of the Low

2011-03-03T18:08:00.000-05:00

Ya know, I've mentioned before that the Kingston music scene is actually pretty good, as most of the bands that travel between Toronto and Montreal/Ottawa inevitably make a stop up here in Kingston. But, I'm starting to think that it's really on par with Toronto's scene. Well, almost. My logic stems on the fact that yeah, you will see most of these bands, and the ones you do see play in tiny venues with no line-ups and very little hype surrounding the show. Like, this Friday Jenn Grant plays to 100 people at the Grad Club, where I have already seen Cuff the Duke and the Braids, and unfortunately missed Doiron and Bryson w the Weakerthans. Never mind shows at the Mansion (NCR, Sheezer) and the Sydenham Church (Plaskett). Now, to perhaps to build this Jan-Mar music extravaganza to a climax, Tori pointed out that Lowest of the Low are playing The Toucan at the end of the month.

The Toucan is incredible to see live shows.. insane.. it fits maybe 20 people. I remember seeing Thrush Hermit, the Flashing Lights, and the Inbreds there my first time around. Incredible venue in the way that it's not supposed to be a venue. I'm not kidding when I say the venue holds maybe 20 people around the stage. This is going to be a special night. Tickets? nah.. no tickets. First come first serve. Amazing. Basically eat dinner there by the stage tables and make a night of it.

Lowest of the Low, the return of one of The Toucan’s ULTIMATE FAV bands from the early 1990’
Shakespeare 20th Anniversary Show
Celebrating the 20th(!) anniversary of Shakespeare My Butt…,
the Lowest of the Low machine will once again crank up for a series of shows this spring.These shows will be featuring Shakespeare in its entirety, the rest of the LOTL catalog, favourites from Ron and Stephen’s records… and more. On top of that, the great Mick Thomas will be opening many of these dates.

I frowned when I saw their Massey Hall show in early May, knowing I couldn't go, but now this is going to blow that Massey Hall show out of the water.

I want to take a streetcar downtown
Read Henry Miller and wander around
And drink some Guinness from a tin
'Cause my U.I. cheque has just come in
Ah, where you been, because

Everything is coming up rosy and grey
Ah, the wind is cold but the smell of snow warms me today
And your smile is fine and it's just like mine and it won't go away, 'cause
Everything is rosy and grey

You've been under my skin for more than eight years
It's been eight years of laughter and eight years of tears
And I don't know what the future can hold, or will do, for me and you
But I'm a much better man for having known you
Yeah, you know that's true, because

Well, I've been told that there's a sucker born every day
Well, I wonder who, yeah, I wonder who
Maybe the one who doesn't realize there's a thousand shades of grey
'Cause I know that's true, yes I do, I know that's true
How about you?

Well, they're picking up trash and they're putting down roads
And they're brokering stocks, the class-struggle explodes
And I'll play this guitar just the best that I can
Well, maybe I'm not and maybe I am
Who gives a damn?
Well, I've kissed you in France and I've kissed you in Spain
And I've kissed you in places I'd better not name
And I've seen the sun go down on Sacre Coeur
But I like it much better going down on you
Ah, you know that's true

--

If you can't catch them in Toronto, they are playing around the region over the next couple of months.

West end Toronto

2011-02-28T23:35:00.001-05:00

http://bikeunion.to/news/2011/02/28/open-house-three-infrastructure-improvements-parkdaleliberty-village

Seems like the final southern extension of the railpath, and a great, safe way to access the downtown core/vice versa.

Whereas this just seems like they're making room for more condos.

Alright, that's it for now. Two lazy updates... but, I really do have a few "good" ones coming up. I've been in Toronto (with nights in Ottawa and Montreal) for almost a week (Reading week was the shit), and now the final 8 weeks of first year law are already here. Time flies by so fast... you might as well not waste it.

Tyger Tyger

2011-02-28T23:09:00.002-05:00

From Angela's feed, I saw this video:

The video is pretty wonderful. And the song is gorgeous as well.

The band is from Toronto, but that's all I know so far...

Brew up some tea, pull out your crafts, and here's their album fed for you over the internet.

http://tygertygerburnsbright.tumblr.com/

Download the album (5 songs) for free here.

M(art)h

2011-02-22T18:54:00.000-05:00

Combining math and art. Or something like that.

Prepared for our semi-formal this year.

Just a heads up...

2011-02-22T09:08:00.000-05:00

Brian Greene is scheduled to be on CBC Radio 1 in about 30 minutes discussing the mathematical inescapability of parallel universes.

Brian Greene is an American theoretical physicist and one of the best-known string theorists. He has been a professor at Columbia University since 1996. Greene has worked on mirror symmetry, relating two different Calabi-Yau manifolds (concretely, relating the conifold to one of its orbitals.) He has become known to a wider audience through his books for the general public, The Elegant Universe, Icarus at the Edge of Time and The Fabric of the Cosmos, and a related PBS television special.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Watson vs. the Humanoids, third and final day

2011-02-17T09:37:00.000-05:00

Watson vs. the Humanoids, Day 2

2011-02-16T00:06:00.004-05:00

I won't tell you what happens, but I will tell you that Watson got the final Jeopardy question wrong, with an incorrect tip of his (its?) hat to Toronto.

The clue was: "Its largest airport was named for a World War II hero; its second for a World War II battle." Jennings and Rutter answered correctly, but the machine said "Toronto?????" rather than "Chicago."

Flying Aces:

O'Hare International Aitport:
Lieutenant Commander Edward Henry "Butch" O'Hare (March 13, 1914 – November 26, 1943) was a naval aviator of the United States Navy who on February 20, 1942 became the U.S. Navy's first flying ace and Medal of Honor recipient in World War II. Butch O'Hare's final action took place on the night of November 26, 1943, while he was leading the U.S. Navy's first-ever nighttime fighter attack launched from an aircraft carrier. During this encounter with a group of Japanese torpedo bombers, O'Hare's F6F Hellcat was shot down; his aircraft was never found. In 1945, the U.S. Navy destroyer USS O'Hare (DD-889) was named in his honor.

O'Hare was honored when Colonel Robert R. McCormick, publisher of the Chicago Tribune, suggested a name change of Chicago's Orchard Depot Airport as tribute to Butch O'Hare. On September 19, 1949, the Chicago, Illinois airport was renamed O'Hare International Airport.

Chicago Midway Airport:
The airport was officially renamed on July 8, 1949^[3] by a unanimous vote in the City Council to "Chicago Midway Airport" in honor of the World War II Battle of Midway^[3]

Toronto Pearson International Airport:
The airport was renamed to Lester B. Pearson International Airport in 1984, in honour of Lester B. Pearson, the 14th Prime Minister of Canada and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Toronto Island Airport:
The Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, commonly known as the Toronto Island Airport. At its annual meeting on September 3, 2009, the TPA announced that it would rename the airport after William Avery "Billy" Bishop, a Canadian First World War flying ace. The name would become the "Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport". The proposal drew criticism from TPA critics such as Adam Vaughan, charging "the port authority is putting together a "feel-good story" to prevent people from asking tough questions about how the island airport is governed."^[62]

Watson vs. the Humanoids, Day 1

2011-02-14T22:54:00.005-05:00

AHHHHH!!!! FREAKING OUT!!!!

If you're within shooting distance of Waterloo...

2011-02-13T18:57:00.000-05:00

I highly recommend this lecture:

MARCUS CHOWN, author
My Top 10 Bonkers Things About the Universe
March 2, 2011 at 7:00 pm

Did you know you could fit the entire human race in the volume of a sugar cube? Or that, if the Sun were made of bananas, it wouldn't make much difference? Or that 98 per cent of the universe is invisible? Award-winning science writer Marcus Chown invites you to come along and discover how the universe we live in is far stranger than anything we could possibly have invented.

http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca/en/Outreach/Public_Lectures/Public_Lectures/

Tickets are available for free tomorrow morning at 9am.

Of course, if you miss this, all past lecutres are available online here, but more on that later...

MAN VS. MACHINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-02-13T18:52:00.000-05:00

This week on Jeopardy, Watson the Supercomputer takes on Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter!

Ken Jennings, who became a household name when he won 74 games in a row, and the all-time biggest Jeopardy money winner, undefeated Brad Rutter, who has won more than US$3.2 million over several tournaments, will take on IBM's Watson on Feb 14th-16th. Jeopardy executive producer Harry Friedman says most of Watson won't even fit on a stage. Its size is "the equivalent of ten refrigerators," he says. It has, for one, 15 TB of RAM!

So, what do I think is going to happen? I'd have to agree with the BoingBoing analysis.

The difference between winning and losing isn't mental agility, but the ability to time the milliseconds between the moment Alex finishes the clue and one of the producers activates the buzzers, slamming your thumb down with either (a) near-perfect reflexes at the off-camera lights telling you the buzzers are go, or (b) a near-perfect guess at the off-stage producer's timing.

Since a computer can obviously react to the "go" lights more rapidly and consistently than any human, it will probably win.

This seemed to be pretty much confirmed if you watched the practice round, which Watson won.

More: A former software engineer, Jennings remembers thinking, when he was first told of the idea behind Watson a couple of years ago, that a computer capable of playing Jeopardy! was decades away. "I was very skeptical," he says.

But then he watched Watson play its pre-game sparring matches, and he felt a growing nervousness in his stomach. "It's really amazing," Jennings says. "Watson gives you only the tiniest window. It never forgets. And its buzzer reflexes will make me look like... What's an example of someone with really bad reflexes?"

More info on the "parallel probabilistic events based architecture" machine:

--

Big picture Jeopardy analysis.

Most popular Jeopardy categories>:

An ENORMOUS Jeopardy archive with past questions: http://j-archive.com

Oh, and this:

Soooo...... hey there. Does anyone have cable tv (or an antenna) they would like to share for an evening or two? I won't be able to make the 14th, but can bring dinner and drinks (plus whatever else--boardgames? It's the week before reading week!) to your place on the 15th and 16th around 7-7:30! This is going to be GREAT.

More ice bike race info

2011-02-13T17:30:00.001-05:00

National Post article on the race.

For its first five years, Icycle took place on a figure-eight course, on a lagoon in Lake Ontario, off Toronto Island. "We would go out there with chainsaws and cut 800-lb pieces of ice out of the lake to build a track," recalls Derek Chadbourne, owner of Harbord's The Bike Joint, and Icycle organizer. "But the weather became too unpredictable." This year marks Icycle's 10th at Dufferin Grove rink.

Here is Mr. Chadbourne's advice about cycling in winter: "The thinner the tires, the better. Keep your ass on the saddle--it's like putting sandbags in the trunk of your car. If you do hit ice, stop pedalling and pray."

I brought my dslr last night, but forgot the sd card in the laptop. The iphone filled in admirably, but wasn't capable of the zooms, obviously. However, got to try out the Pro HDR functions.

More pics here.

Icycle 2010 - Still racing on ice

2011-02-10T19:01:00.000-05:00

If you're in Toronto this weekend, check out the fun, annual event organized by Derek (The Bike Joint).

Watching people fall on ice has never been so much fun.

Dufferin Grove Ice Rink. Saturday, February 12 · 6:00pm - 9:00pm

Conductin' Thangs

2011-02-09T17:06:00.000-05:00

From here.

Saturday, March 12, Tom Allen hosts his Classical Good Time Variety Show with the Kingston Symphony.

When it comes to the world of a symphony orchestra, we sometimes fall into the category of "predictable" and "uptight." That's not a bad thing, because being classic is what we do best – and we need to be tight to present masterpieces as their finest. But Tom's ability to connect with the audience will, I hope, give everyone (orchestra members included) a more rewarding – and very entertaining – understanding of the music in a really fun and relaxed way.

As Tom says himself: "There are great stories behind the music – sex, riots, prison, syphilis and man-eating goats." You'll have to attend the concert to hear these stories in their entirety…

Tom, currently host of CBC Radio 2’s Shift program, will bring his knowledge of classical music to this light-hearted evening that mixes up story-telling, history, humour, music appreciation and audience participation.

He'll talk about music's connection to society, the sordid lives of composers, why some instruments are funnier than others, and how great music is always relevant.

The evening will feature Cage Match, In the Shadow, This Day in History, and other aspects that have been part of his radio career at CBC over the last 20 years. Tom will put two pieces against each other in a competitive comparison and ask the audience to vote for their favourite. Other pieces will include Bizet's Carmen Suite, Holst's Jupiter, and Debussy's L'Après-Midi d'un Faune, to name just a few. Then he'll prove to you what it takes to create a masterpiece. And he'll give you some random trivia facts along the way that, if nothing else, will be a great conversation starter the next time you're in an awkward social situation.

Click here for all the details on this concert.

--

Anyone up for a night of this?? Lots of tickets are available, and it's being held at the Grand Theatre in downtown Kingston.

Also, this:

Snack

2011-02-09T13:02:00.000-05:00

So, workin' late last night, and felt like a bit of a snack. And felt like procrastinating. What better time to make black bean hummus. Black beans, gram for gram, have more fibre and 25 per cent fewer calories than chickpeas. And they beat out other beans when it comes to antioxidants (link).

Fast and really easy.

Can of black beans, drained
1.5 teaspoons of tahini
2-3 cloves of garlic
some lime juice
some lemon juice
some cumin
some paprika
some dill weed

All ingredients to taste, and really all are optional other than the beans and tahini.

one cup. hand blender.

So, it came out a bit runny... too much tahini I think, and too long under the blender. But, really, really delicious, and a ton of leftovers.

Your prayers have been answered, Kingston

2011-02-08T21:37:00.004-05:00

An all-chick Weezer cover band, that plays only Pinkerton and the Blue Album, is coming to Kingston the last Sunday of Reading week.

$9, The Mansion.

... and one from Pinkerton.

Pre-drinks, dancing and singing at my house.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Female singer connections / music for today

2011-02-08T08:43:00.008-05:00

Zoe Keating, Canadian Cellist, moved to San Francisco, like Andrew Bird, uses electronic sampling and layers during her live performances.

Zoe Keating - Escape Artist

Also, she's been on a RadioLab blog episode, where Jad and Zoe discuss the physics of looping sound, and how to use a 17th century instrument to make awesome electronic music.

http://www.radiolab.org/blogs/radiolab-blog/2008/aug/25/quantum-cello/

More: http://music.zoekeating.com/track/escape-artist (I really like this song)

Zoe's old band, Rasputina, is playing Lee's Palace Feb 19th.

However, that's the same night Jenn Grant is playing at the Horseshoe, which sounds like the better deal.

She's getting good reviews for her new album, and sounding more and more like the new Julie Doiron, which, I think, is a good thing... a little more lively/poppy wishing for edgy. (Download here)

Julie Doiron: I can wonder what you did with your day - Click here to download great album.

Bike Helmets

2011-02-03T14:12:00.002-05:00

I know I've talked about this before, but the video below just reaffirms some thoughts.

"This almost pornographic obsession with safety equipment... this culture of fear has created a bubble wrap society."

"If the bicycle helmet was a vaccine or a medicine there is no way it would be approved by the ministry of health; there is simply not enough proof."

The fact is that there is a strong negative correlation between the safety of cyclists and the prominence of bicycle helmets. Wear a helmet if you like, but certainly don't begrudge anyone who doesn't. Instead, just thank them for being out there with you, cuz the number of active cyclists is the single largest contributor to your safety.

"Every single health warning on a pack of cigarettes applies directly to car traffic. We don't even have to write new texts... we can just copy and paste them."

Did you know that the automobile industry is one of the largest proponents of bicycle helmets?

Why? To instill that feeling of fear in a potential cyclist. It's also certainly no coincidence that this is precisely juxtaposition to the false sense of security and power they have injected into their vehicle owners (against all statistics).

It's actually scary (and hilarious once you realize) to the extent our lives are controlled by these subtle influences. A great Slate article looked at Hollywood's contempt for the carless. How not having a car became Hollywood shorthand for loser.

"And so anything outside this dominant culture is treated as, well, a little weird. Hollywood's representation of cyclists, for example, as blogger Bike Snob puts it, has "pretty much been nerds on 10 speeds." The list of prominent bicyclists in film history includes misfit teens (Napoleon Dynamite), eccentric Einstein-like scientists (the license-less Jeff Goldblum character in Independence Day, in which the bike is, admittedly, shown as a pretty decent way to escape Manhattan), vaguely countercultural types (Mark Wahlberg's character in I Heart Huckabees, or Carl Bernstein in All the President's Men) perpetual man-children (Pee-Wee's Big Adventure), and people who otherwise refuse to grow up or are out of touch with real life and the working world. (Consider the couch-surfing Owen Wilson character in You, Me, and Dupree, whose answering machine message announces: "If this is in regards to employment, please be aware that my Class Four driver's license has expired.")

In The 40-Year-Old-Virgin, for example, Steve Carell is that rarest of filmic creatures: a bona-fide bike commuter, shown pedaling to work, navigating the various hazards of the traffic landscape. A boon for alternative modes, perhaps, except for the fact that the bicycle, like the character's penchant for collecting action figures and his virginal status, is treated with a certain condescension. "I'm not the only person in the world who rides a bike," he protests to his co-workers, one of whom replies: "Yeah, everyone rides a bike, when they're fucking 6."

--

Interesting article addressing the subtle manipulations all around us. Next up? Gender roles!... just kidding... kinda...

Anyway, that's it for now!

It's not the weekend yet,

2011-02-03T09:28:00.000-05:00

but I wish it was!

Profound, I know.

Ok, so this weekend, Cuff the Duke plays the Grad Club on Friday night. Saturday night is our semi-formal, to which I'm just finishing up some "art" to submit (more on that later.. ). Also, I've been told there may be a potential visitor or two! Trying not to get my hopes up, but ya know...

BUT, what this post is really about is that I wanted to let you know, if you haven't heard already, about the PATHS Conference being held over the weekend.

From the facebook page:

The purpose of the conference is to provide diverse career options to law students. We explore various career alternatives available to law students who are not interested in pursuing work in large firm settings. We focus on legal education as a tool for enacting social change, developing specialty law practices, achieving professional excellence, and discovering truly rewarding careers.

The conference is FREE for all Queen's Law students and registration is not required.

Schedule is as follows:

Friday, February 4 (room 001):

Opening Remarks by Professor Darryl Robinson
1:00 - 2:30: work-life balance in the legal profession

Panelists:
Leann Beggs - Director, Career Services, Queen's Law
Jasmine Daya - Associate, Wolfe Lawyers (personal injury litigation)
Christine Peringer- Mediator, private practice
Lynn Wheatley - Deputy Judge, Small Claims Court (Toronto)
Moderator: Nick Bala
**Pizza lunch provided.

Saturday, February 5 (room 001):
9:30-10:00am: Breakfast provided (law lounge)
10:00-11:30am: Panel 1 - new lawyers in practice up to 5 years
11:30-12:30pm: Lunch provided (law lounge)
12:30-2:00pm: Panel 2 - seasoned lawyers in practice 5+ years

Speakers (Panel 1):
Travis Allan - Zizzo Allan Climate Law LLP
Jennifer Hockey - Litigator, Department of Justice
Kristin Muszynski - Templeman Menninga LLP
Jan Peiris - In-house counsel, Uni-Select Inc.
Moderator: David Freedman

Speakers (Panel 2):
Steven Bookman - Sole-practitioner, family law
Michael Dineen - Criminal lawyer, Pinkofskys
Marco Filice - Director of Development, Liberty Development Corporation
Kirsty Mathers McHenry - Policy Counsel, Legal Aid/ sessional professor, Queen's.
Moderator: Art Cockfield

Closing remarks by Associate Dean Corbett

FREE FOOD, FREE COFFEE, FREE INSPIRATION.

See you all there!

The Paths Committee

--

Alright, so a really great opportunity to bust the chops of lawyers succeeding outside of the Bay Street path. On top of that, a familiar face in Steven Bookman is going to be on a panel. Steven has helped me out huge in the past (from getting me a job driving limos way back when, to writing a recommendation letter for Queen's Law) and it's more than fair to say that I wouldn't have the opportunities I have today without his help.

Fresh Kils

2011-02-03T00:04:00.001-05:00

One of my buddies from high school became an officially nominated JUNO award producer yesterday! Fresh Kils (Andrew Kilgour) actually has his name on two of the five albums nominated for Rap Recording of the Year; D-Sisive's "Vaudeville" (which also features a Ron Sexsmith cameo) and Ghettosocks' "Treat of the Day".

His MySpace page here.

I got to admit, it's not my cup of tea (a cup of tea is more my cup of tea), but geez, this is pretty awesome/inspiring news.

This would also be a pretty good time to whip out those grade 10 photos, but as he's only going to get bigger, I'll bide my time.

Congratulations man. This is really exciting news.

--

Vaudeville. Download here (this download is a bit complicated (not impossible), but it's the only source I found... )

D-Sisive is a one-man music machine cruising to the hum of his own engine. After last year’s triumphant return to the hip-hop limelight with both his Polaris Prize nominated gem Let The Children Die, and his second classic full length of 2009, the acclaimed Jonestown, one would think the accomplished Toronto MC would be content to rest on his ever-expanding laurels. Not D-Sisive. The enigmatic one is back – and this time taking things to an entirely new level with the epic Vaudeville. Produced in tandem with Andrew ‘Fresh Kils’ Kilgour and featuring a surprise cameo from legendary Canadian songsmith, Ron Sexsmith, Vaudeville is filled with incredible hip hop tracks, smoke and mirror gags mixed with punch lines, and intense stories. An album that showcases the wide variety of influences and themes which only an enigmatic master of ceremonies like D-Sisive could pull off.

Kilgour's name is also all over the Ghettosocks album.

TREAT OF THE DAY. Download here.
Written and performed by Ghettosocks except where noted
Arranged by Ghettosocks and Fresh Kils at The Kilzone
Tracks 04, 06, 07, 08, 09, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 recorded at The Vault Studios in Halifax
Tracks 01, 02, 03, 05, 10, and 11 recorded at The Kilzone in Toronto
Additional production on track 04 by Ghettosocks
Additional production on track 15 by Dexter Doolittle
All Tracks recorded by Fresh Kils, except tracks 08, 09, 14, and 16 recorded by Beatmason
Mixed by Fresh Kils at The Kilzone
Mastered by Tom Rogers at Atomix Media

Go see Fresh Kils live when you get the chance. I've seen him in Toronto twice now (with More or Les) and both were great shows. Not sure if I could get through an entire album myself, but live, I gotta admit, the music kicks ass.

The Magic Flute

2011-01-31T20:53:00.000-05:00

'The Magic Flute is one of those works that is capable of enchanting a child; at the same time it can move the most experienced of men to tears and uplift the wisest'

Albert Einstein

The Magic Flute is Mozart's last opera, composed in 1791. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue.

--

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magic_Flute

The Magic Flute is noted for its prominent Masonic elements; Schikaneder and Mozart were Masons and lodge brothers (see: Mozart and Freemasonry). The opera is also influenced by Enlightenment philosophy, and can be regarded as an allegory advocating enlightened absolutism. The Queen of the Night represents a dangerous form of obscurantism or, according to some interpreters, contemporary Roman Catholicism^.Her antagonist Sarastro symbolises the enlightened sovereign who rules according to principles based on reason, wisdom, and nature. The story itself portrays the education of mankind, progressing from chaos through religious superstition to rationalistic enlightenment, by means of trial (Tamino) and error (Papageno), ultimately to make "the Earth a heavenly kingdom, and mortals like the gods".

Blah, Blah, Blah..

--

The story is fundamentally a fairy tale for both children and adults. Its music ranges from simple, folk tunes such as Papageno's "Ein Vogelfänger bin ich ja" to the downright bitchy/bitchin' Queen of the Night's "Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" ("Hell's vengeance boils in my heart").

I'll spare you a synopsis of the story, but several are available. However, for a synopsis, don't see the Smurfs and the Magic Flute (download here), cuz as I found out after watching it, it's based "The Flute with Six Holes", and not the Schikaneder/Mozart opera. (However, it is still worth watching...)

A good rendition of Mozart's Magic Flute IS available here. It's the Kenneth Branagh version, awesomely set during World War I, with the screenplay co-written by none other than Stephen Fry, and special effect by Garry Cooper.

So, just to get a feel for it, here's one more youtube video...

- Overture first! (btw, James Levine rocks the shit out of that overture)

Also, the (wtf) Magic Flute Bike Pump!

--

The Toronto show (with some inside information... haha.. maybe this is available from the website, I don't know.. ;) is set out as follows, from the Diane Paulus' director notes:

We have set the action in 1791, the year in which the opera was first performed, against the backdrop of the Enlightenment....We have sought to explore the layers of comedy, fairytale, and myth that come together in live performance. The entire opera has been re-imagined as a play-within-the-play – a performance being created before our eyes by the members of a household and their guests in celebration of the name day of the
opera’s heroine, Pamina.

--

Now, for something really cool. Einstein, Mozart and the Magic Flute...

Psychosis, creativity, and the neuregulin 1 gene. Some wild speculation on an Einstein/Mozart connection.

...Mann turned to Einstein. "It would give us great joy," he said, "to make music with you." Einstein in 1952 no longer had a violin, but the musicians had taken an extra. Einstein chose Mozart's brooding Quintet in G minor.

"Dr. Einstein hardly referred to the notes on the musical score," Mr. Mann recalled, adding, "while his out-of-practice hands were fragile, his coordination, sense of pitch, and concentration were awesome."

He seemed to pluck Mozart's melodies out of the air.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/31/science/31essa.html

--

His son, Hans Albert, recalled that "whenever he felt that he had come to the end of the road or into a difficult situation in his work, he would take refuge in music, and that would usually resolve all the difficulties."

http://www.allgoodthings.com/yoga/yogacats/immortals/einst1.html

--

Einstein's second wife, Elsa, who confided that she first fell in love with Einstein because of the way he plays Mozart beautifully on the violin, said Einstein also plays the piano (his mom was a pianist).

"Music helps him when he is thinking about his theories. He goes to his study, comes back, strikes a few chords on the piano, jots something down, returns to his study."

http://www.vth.biz/driver/node/96

--

[Albert] Einstein once said that while Beethoven created his music, Mozart's "was so pure that it seemed to have been ever-present in the universe, waiting to be discovered by the master." Einstein believed much the same of physics, that beyond observations and theory lay the music of the spheres — which, he wrote, revealed a "pre-established harmony" exhibiting stunning symmetries. The laws of nature, such as those of relativity theory, were waiting to be plucked out of the cosmos by someone with a sympathetic ear.

--

Anyway, that's it for now. I'm SUPER excited for the show tomorrow night (can you tell??). I'm a little worried about the weather, but what's the worst that can happen?.. I get stuck in Toronto for a couple days?

http://openmedia.ca/meter

2011-01-31T16:56:00.003-05:00

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are about to impose usage-based billing on YOU.

This means we're looking at a future where ISPs will charge per byte, the way they do with smart phones. If we allow this to happen Canadians will have no choice but to pay MUCH more for less Internet. Big Telecom companies are obviously trying to gouge consumers, control the Internet market, and ensure that consumers continue to subscribe to their television services.

These Big Telecom companies are forcing small competing ISPs to adopt the same pricing scheme, so that we have no choice but to pay these punitive fees.

This will crush innovative services, Canada's digital competitiveness, and your wallet.

We urgently need to send a clear message to Ottawa, saying that we won't stand by while some of the most profitable companies in the country indiscriminately add new fees to our Internet bills. Enough is enough.

UPDATE: The CRTC just made a decision that paves the way for new internet fees to be added to your bill. To stop this we need to raise our voices now more than ever.

Click here to sign a quick and easy petition:

3 songs by The White Stripes!

2011-01-29T19:25:00.002-05:00

Such a great album. Download torrent here, although, let's be honest; you're probably better off downloading the discography. Also, buy the albums here while they last.

What a great mike.

I put this version in cuz it's embedable, BUT, this video of Denial Twist rocks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DodG8IcnOZk

Saturday night! Going to see New Country Rehab tonight at the Mansion. No, Dan Ackroyd doesn't own it anymore. :( But first, dinner with my new Joel Plaskett friend (is it possible that she likes him more than me?.. I doubt it, but we're about to find out) Clara, who, funnily enough, is dating the bassist in New Country Rehab. Small fucking world. Even in Kingston.

So, what's going on in Egypt?

2011-01-28T08:55:00.004-05:00

I was going to do this myself (honest), but this seems like a pretty fair assessment/cop out for me to take.

http://promotingpeace.tumblr.com/post/2969260999 (via BoingBoing)

Some additional commentary, also via BoingBoing.. comments section!.. Look out!

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2011/01/28/imagining-new-egypt
After a good summary of the situation, the writer adds:
"I have started getting reports from citizen journalists that government-hired thugs will make sure that nothing about tomorrow is peaceful. They say that in several low-income parts of Cairo and Alexandria, government-hired thugs were seen to be splashing petroleum over parked cars. This to prepare for protests in which they'll light vehicles on fire when the time is right for them.
"They've also heard rumours that the intelligence services will release a separate group of thugs under the name Akhwan al- Haq, or Brothers of Truth, a trumped-up extremist group, that will charge through the streets with swords and caustic acid to splash on the protesters - thus placing all the blame of a peaceful uprising gone violent on a certain kind of Islamic extremism."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/27/egypt-riot-security-force-action
Guardian reporter Jack Shenker recounts his beatings and arrest by Egyptian officers. While detained inside an Egypitian police facility where protesters were being beaten, he says, when he identified himself as a British reporter, a high-ranking officer punched him and yelled "Fuck you and fuck Britain."

Update:

"Confirming what a few have reported this evening: in an action unprecedented in Internet history, the Egyptian government appears to have ordered service providers to shut down all international connections to the Internet. (renesys.com)

--

Basically, at this point I'm apparently content in a single media source (being lazy) and ripping off BoingBoing. Whaddya gonna do?

I swear at some point this weekend some real content is gonna make it's way up here... and if not, whaddya gonna do! ;)

Also, happy, happy Friday! See below:

Update:

A good one: http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/01/whats-happening-egypt-explained

Also US implications.

And we were glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife

2011-01-27T17:06:00.001-05:00

Guess who just picked up the Bat Out of Hell album!

Other than the fact that Lord "Meat Loaf" looks like he's about to keel over (would love to see this as an SNL short, preferably with Meat Loaf himself), this is an incredible song. That's right. Paradise by the dashboard light is incredible.

1. PARADISE
BOY:
I remember every little thing
As if it happened only yesterday
Parking by the lake
And there was not another car in sight
And I never had a girl
Looking any better than you did
And all the kids at school
They were wishing they were me that night
And now our bodies are oh so close and tight
It never felt so good, it never felt so right
And we're glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife
Glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife
C'mon! Hold on tight!
C'mon! Hold on tight!
Thought it's cold and lonely in the deep dark night
I can see paradise by the dashboard light

GIRL:
Ain't no doubt about it
We were doubly blessed
'Cause we were barely seventeen
And we were barely dressed
Ain't no doubt about it
Baby got to go and shout it
Ain't no doubt about it
We were doubly blessed

BOY:
'Cause we were barely seventeen
And we were barely dressed
Baby doncha hear my heart
You got it drowning out the radio
I've been waiting so long
For you to come along and have some fun
And I gotta let you know
No you're never gonna regret it
So open up your eyes I got a big surprise
It'll feel all right
Well I wanna make your motor run
And now our bodies are oh so close and tight
It never felt so good, it never felt so right
And we're glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife
Glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife
C'mon! Hold on tight!
C'mon! Hold on tight!

Though it's cold and lonely in the deep dark night
I can see paradise by the dashboard light
Paradise by the dashboard light
You got to do what you can
And let Mother Nature do the rest
Ain't no doubt about it
We were doubly blessed
'Cause we were barely seventeen
And we were barely-

We're gonna go all the way tonight
We're gonna go all the way
And tonight's the night...
We're gonna go all the way tonight
We're gonna go all the way
And tonight's the night...

RADIO BROADCAST
OK, here we go, we got a real pressure cooker going here,
Two down, nobody on, no score, bottom of the ninth,
There's the windup, and there it is, a line shot up the middle,
Look at him go. This boy can really fly! He's rounding first and really
turning it on now, he's not letting up at all, he's gonna try for
second; the ball is bobbled out in center, and here comes the
throw, and what a throw! He's gonna slide in head first, here he
comes, he's out! No, wait, safe-safe at second base, this kid
really makes things happen out there. Batter steps up to the
plate, here's the pitch-he's going, and what a jump he's got,
he's trying for third, here's the throw, it's in the dirt-safe at
third! Holy cow, stolen base! He's taking a pretty big lead out
there, almost daring him to try and pick him off. The pitcher
glances over, winds up, and it's bunted, bunted down the third
base line, the suicide squeeze is on! Here he comes, squeeze
play, it's gonna be close, holy cow, I think he's gonna make it!

II. LET ME SLEEP ON IT
GIRL:
Stop right there!
I gotta know right now!
Before we go any further!
Do you love me?
Will you love me forever?
Do you need me?
Will you never leave me?
Will you make me so happy for the rest of my life?
Will you take me away and will you make me your wife?
Do you love me!?
Will you love me forever!?
Do you need me!?
Will you never leave me!?
Will you make me happy for the rest of my life!?
Will you take me away and will you make me your wife!?
I gotta know right now
Before we go any further
Do you love me!?
Will you love me forever!?

BOY:
Let me sleep on it
Baby, baby let me sleep on it
Let me sleep on it
And I'll give you an answer in the morning
Let me sleep on it
Baby, baby let me sleep on it
Let me sleep on it
And I'll give you an answer in the morning
Let me sleep on it
Baby, baby let me sleep on it
Let me sleep on it
And I'll give you an answer in the morning

GIRL:
I gotta know right now
Do you love me?
Will you love me forever?
Do you need me?
Will you never leave me?
Will you make me so happy for the rest of my life?
Will you take me away and will you make me your wife?
I gotta know right now!
Before we go any further
Do you love me?
And will you love me forever?

BOY:
Let me sleep on it
Baby, baby let me sleep on it
Let me sleep on it
And I'll give you an answer in the morning
Let me sleep on it

GIRL:
Will you love me forever?

BOY:
Let me sleep on it

GIRL:
Will you love me forever!!!!

III. PRAYING FOR THE END OF TIME
I couldn't take it any longer
Lord I was crazed
And when the feeling came upon me
Like a tidal wave
I started swearing to my god and on my mother's grave
That I would love you to the end of time
I swore that I would love you to the end of time!
So now I'm praying for the end of time
To hurry up and arrive
'Cause if I gotta spend another minute with you
I don't think that I can really survive
I'll never break my promise or forget my vow
But God only knows what I can do right now
I'm praying for the end of time
It's all that I can do
Praying for the end of time,
So I can end my time with you!!

BOY:
It was long ago and it was far away
And it was so much better that it is today

GIRL:
It never felt so good
It never felt so right
And we were glowing like
A metal on the edge of a knife

Phil Rizzuto!

Charlie Louvin passes away

2011-01-26T18:06:00.001-05:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/27/arts/music/27louvin.html

“When it comes time for the harmonies to come in, I will move to my left because my brother and I always used to use one microphone,” he said of performing solo. “Even today, I will move over to the left to give the harmony room, knowing in my mind that there’s no harmony standing on my right.”

Coolest postcard ever +

2011-01-24T18:29:00.000-05:00

Just received the coolest postcard ever. Yes, that is a piece of the Berlin wall in the centre of it! Amazing.

This came from Justyna, who also just finished her Basic Outdoor Survival Course, just outside of Winnipeg.

Here's an exerpt from her email:

We spent 5 days learning all kinds of survival techniques and sleeping in all kinds of makeshift homes. One night was in a tent, for one they gave a parachute per 9 people and we slept under those, one night we piled snow for a couple of days into these huge mounds and then dug little homes inside the mounds (2people/mound) and slept in those one night. They were like a little igloo/cave combination i guess, except that we didn't cut blocks of ice and pile it, we just dug into huge piles of snow. They're called quinzees. And our last night was in little cabins.

So on the 6th day we got dropped off at the edge of a lake with a gps coordinate, a pair of snowshoes and a backpack of equipment (including a piece of a parachute, saw, shovel, radio, knife, 12 candies at 50 calories/candy and 3 little packets of juice crystals to mix into your water). Our last meal was a rabbit that my fireteam parter killed and i gutted (it was boiled rabbit though so it didn't taste that great.) Then we were by ourselves for 3 days with not much but a brain full of knowledge. Let me tell you, it was an adventure.

The coldest it got was -37 deg C. But the many tasks we had to accomplish in 3 days (shelter, continuous fire, smoke signal tower-took hours to build, rabbit snare, a number of signals for the plane to see, and continuously boiling snow over the fire in my little canteen cup) kept me very busy. Surprisingly I didn't feel hungry until the 3rd day (they had deprived us of food a bit in the 5 days leading up to it so my stomac had shrunk a bit already by solo time.) It did get a little lonely though and i got a little anxious every evening at sundown (which was around 6pm) as my pile of firewood never seemed to be big enough and the nights were long and cold. I collected wood in between every little task i did (like cutting down trees or gathering boughs-which was a never ending task as you need boughs for everything you have to build,) and giant piles up to my waist would burn out in an hour or two. i was pulling full dead christmas trees out of the ground (in the swampy areas there were many dead ones) and even those burned out as quickly as i could collect them.

When it came to evaluation time on the 3rd day, my tasks were all deemed to be good and i didn't have to re-do any of them (unlike my comrades, most of whom had to either re-build or upgrade their smoke tower signal). We all got to light our smoke signals at the end of the exercise. They were like mini volcanoes that turned into infernos (they work both for day and night cause of the massive plumes of gray smoke that come out of it during the day-no plane can miss that, let me tell you, and the fire tower that's created afterwards works great at night for a signal). Pretty cool to see!

Assuming you passed, there were 3 things you could have had written for each component on your course report: passed, barely passed or easily passed. My course report reads "Easily passed all PO Checks". Yea, that's right!

--

I think it's time I admit that my younger female cousin may be tougher than me. ;)

Ted Talks Spreadsheet

2011-01-21T11:29:00.000-05:00

A Ted Talks spreadsheet? Searchable, with descriptions? Links? Simply Perfect.

http://on.ted.com/23

Awesome Baby Yoga

2011-01-20T15:24:00.003-05:00

беби-йога, платона и лена

Link to original article here (from BoingBoing). Sometimes the video has trouble loading apparently. GO to the original link.

The first thing everybody here thought when they saw your baby-swinging video was “Holy shit!” Then they thought, is it real or fake? So: Is it real? If so, who is the baby?
The child was born in the Black Sea region. Her name is Platona, and she was two weeks old when we took that video. We have a lot of children like her here. They are early readers, singers, talkers, swimmers. You haven’t seen anything like it anywhere!! And there’s swimming with dolphins, scuba diving with them…

At the end of your video, it looks like you’re trying to get the two-week-old baby to walk. Is mobility the goal of your baby yoga?
Yes, more mobility, and other goals. First off, more trained skills. Second, more freedom. Third, independence. We learn from nature and teach our offspring to survive.

Should Americans try “baby yoga” at home?
Americans should be able to do a lot of this themselves, in order to pass something on to their children. An immobile American loses their naturally given reflexes (swimming, reaching, stepping—they have machines that do this for them). That’s why, in parallel with their children, the parents learn to do these things: dive, swim, run, jump, bend and much more. Our workshop is called “family active lifestyle.”

Did you know that YouTube took the video down because it was in violation of their policy on “shocking and disgusting” content? What is your response to that?
Did they notice that the babies aren’t crying—they’re even laughing—and that this system has been used for over thirty years in Russia and the children are all alive and healthy? If you need more proof, the best thing is to come see us.

--

If you don't think I'm trying this with the next baby I see you're obviously delusional.

Rationally, this does seem like good foundational exercise for a baby's development. Errr... but maybe with less swinging over the head.

Baby yoga users claim that it's uses are innumerable. Their children could reportedly learn to walk and swim earlier. You can see these early practices being incorporated with the two-week old in the video above. They claim that their babies become fearless. Although no studies have concluded that the baby-swinging harms or helps children.

Some comments from other sites...

SamanthaMT

posted:
20/01/2011

No child deserves to be treated in such a manner. I fear for that child and I wish I had the authority to prosecute that woman. 2 weeks old?!

Barb

posted:
19/01/2011

I think this is very harmful to a baby, if I were to do this in the United States they would want to take me to jail!!

Here's a Westernized, more estrogen infused version. I got through about 3 x 3 seconds of this crap session for bored mothers.

"Give me the baby... I'm going to swing it!!" Insert sarcastically evil yet somewhat sincere look here.

What London is doing for folks that bike to work (not cyclists... )

2011-01-20T08:13:00.003-05:00

Watching this video is not a waste of your time.

I love the blue. Hopefully it doesn't get slippery.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/01/success-for-london-bicycle-superhighways-boris-johnson-video.php

In other words, London's bike superhighways are incredibly successful, as the front-page GOOD story remarks. According to the findings in study by Transport for London, there were 70% more cyclists out on the streets of London in October of 2010 than there were the previous year.
GOOD has more:

that means that the number of bikers on the streets pre-superhighways was 70 percent lower than it is now that the superhighways have been installed. That's some effective bike promotion, if I've ever seen it ... Will other cities see this information and start doing more for bike lane planning than simply laying them on the side of the street?

That's right -- bike use everywhere jumped, not just on the superhighways. The safe, elegant lanes evidently inspired more folks to dust off their old ten-speeds and hit the roads.
It should also be pointed out that the spike in cycling also coincides with London's bike-share program, which we've written about at length here on TreeHugger.

This development is fantastic -- people want to ride bikes in cities. It's cheap, efficient, and fun. But most of the time, it's terrifying. It's why I don't ride a bike in New York -- no way I'm heading into Manhattan traffic during rush hour. New York is also making strides in its bike lanes, too, however. If they work as well as London's, that's all it will take -- count me in.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/01/london-bike-superhighways-70-increase-cycling.php

I feel a country/gospel kick a comin'

2011-01-20T07:35:00.010-05:00

...or something like that. Harmonies, 5ths, guitar pickin'. Kicked off after listening to Howl this morning, and getting this song stuck in my mind:

I.
I will walk with Jesus, till I cant go any more,
And I will stay with Jesus, till I can't go another mile,
And people will see all the good that's concealed,
And people must know, not to feel any sorrow,
Cos I will not stand by and watch you cry.

II.
I will stay with Jesus, till I can't stay any more,
And I will stand with Jesus, till I can't take another stone,
And people will see all the good that's concealed,
And people will know, not to feel any sorrow,
Cos I will not stand by and watch you cry...

EDIT: This song has been on repeat all morning. So awesome.

Mom, DO NOT read into this, but do enjoy it!

Brief Moments

2011-01-19T10:17:00.002-05:00

My buddy Mitch, who's currently studying down in Chicago, posted a video recently, "Public Light and Space", where he parallels his art, change, and criminal law, or, more specifically, the idea of rehabilitation.

"...of being able to replace old ideas with new ones..."

Mitch is one of those dudes who is talented and works hard. He's not only pro-li-fic-ic, but is responsible for my favourite Nuit Blanche installation eva:

Well, that didn't take very long

2011-01-16T10:28:00.010-05:00

Ya know, all my life I've been resistant to change. I'm not sure if most of us are, but I really didn't like it, even to my own detriment. And almost every single time I've had to change something, after the initial adversity and discomfort, it's pretty clear that the right decision was made, and that it turned out for the better. I'm not sure if it's a function of making bad initial choices (or a function of making better choices now), or just something that comes with age and confidence. Doing the right thing isn't always the easiest thing, but doing it really clears things up and makes things easier in the long run. Don't get me wrong, I still have my moments of indecision and doubt, but I find I'm better able to handle these moments, and they certainly don't hang around like they used to.

Anyway, coming back up to Kingston was a tough change for me, and again I felt it after the Christmas break. I mean, leaving Toronto, my family and friends, was a bit of a tough thing to do, and almost immediately after the change I felt a little off. But, after a good (but short) visit from Jeremy, a couple drinks with good friends up here, some good chats and some good marks coming back from December exams and courses, I feel like what I'm doing up here has been reconfirmed. Despite the absolute God-dump of snow we've been getting, Kingston is once again feeling like one of the best decisions I could have made. Sure I miss Toronto, but whatever is important about it will still be there whenever I get back. In the mean time, there's work to be done.

But first, some awesome photos from an awesome Christmas break.

My place in Kingston, after coming home from writing the Public exam.

Ahhh... a well deserved trip to Montreal with my friend, to visit some of hers, and to have a good time there in reward for a completed first semester!

When I look in the mirror, I can't believe what I see
Tell me, who's that funky dude, staring back at me?

Walking around Montreal...

Lost my lens cap after taking this picture, but was fortunately convinced to go back for it after realizing a few blocks later... and luckily enough, it was there.

Drive back to Toronto.

Back home, dinner with some of the family. Mussels and duck, if I remember correctly, and both underwhelming. Luckily the company was good. La Petite France, I believe. What also made this night great was that this was the first night I got my bike back.

Afterward at Ckris and Donna's.

A Christmas Story, one of my favourites (one of everyone's favourites, no??!!), on a 5x9 foot projection screen, feet up, and a Corona. Needless to say, I passed out in that chair.

Next night back on the bike to Sara and Jowi's, where a dinner party broke out over fresh made gnocchi.

I, uhhh, grated some cheese! Also, got to meet some really interesting people and had a fascinating conversation or two! In the past I'd often avoid dinner parties; I prefer meeting new people in groups of one or two -- I find it more personal. I mean, it was/is always a function of who's going to be there, and I couldn't feel more comfortable at Sarah and Jowi's place. Also, I think the combination of some really great and friendly people (who were also open to meeting me/new people -- this is not a giveme -- I have a few good stories I don't mind sharing over a beer...), and me getting better/more comfortable with 'mingling' (it's a law school thing ;), really made this night something special. Also, as almost an aside, I don't think I ever had such great gnocchi. The fresh red beet ones were definitely my favourite; they went great with the champagne..

Next night or two, wrapping Christmas presents, and Wigilia. For Poles, Christmas Eve is a night of magic when animals are said to talk and people have the power to predict the future. It’s a time for families to gather and reconcile any differences, and to remember loved ones who have gone before them. (via here)

"Look busy! Look busy!" Haha... I'm not sure what Chris considers looking busy, but I dig it.

Wine and boardgames in a poorly lit room.

Boxing day! Eric Changstein!!! For anyone that would listen, they knew that Eric Chang was coming over from Japan for the first time in like 4 years, and I'd have him exclusively for like 2-3 days. So, this is a story of him and our adventures. Errr, most of them anyway!

Chinatown. It's where I take all my visiting asian friends.

Boy, did we tour the city! Actually, it was pretty great, but boxing day shopping was just incredibly horrible in the major chain stores. However, we did manage to almost lose my camera, buy a pair of shoes, and I got a sports jacket from Tom's Place for pretty cheap ("I need something that will go well with these jeans" - "how about this designer $600 jacket?"... "Errr, I believe I'm looking for something much much cheaper." hmmm.. it was funnier in person.)

That night, Anna joined us as we stayed in, had a few drinks, and caught up. Fantastic night. With Eric, we always pick up exactly where we left off, despite miles and years apart.

Next day, time for some music! We recorded a track or two; it's currently in post and should be ready in a few weeks, given motivations and perspirations.

We also went for a walk in the ravine! I don't think I've been down there for 6-7 years now, and we ended up taking it all the way down to James Gardens, with a few BBs fired off at things that we thought would make cool sounds.

I think we ended up spending 6 hours down there that first day!

For some reason, when I have two rifles (ok, bb guns) in my hands, I can't resist making this pose!

Matching sweaters! Also, that day (or the next) I managed to hit an acorn cap from 15 meters!

Anyway, it was really great to see and hang out with Chang, and I wish he and I could have had more time together. He's already thinking of a summer visit though... :) Also, at some point I'll have to go back out East.

Yeah, we went back to UCC.

And a parting shot of Muffy, the cutest dog in the world. He's had her now for must be 12 years; got during his time here at Queen's. When I saw her over the break she definitely remembered me, jumping with that bad back of hers like she was 1 again.

We did manage to fit in a lot on his visit (despite falling asleep on the couch together at 8 pm one night), but still, it'd be better to have him around more than once every few years for a few days.

Next day, must be now a few days before new years, met up with the Beals to play some pool and hang out.

Hockey Hall of Fame! I've never gone, and Kris hadn't been in years, so we decided to head on in.

Kris took a couple of shots, and not included here are Kari's play-by-play calling clips, but if you ask nicely I'd gladly send you the links!

My two favourite players.

The Vezina trophy actually has a little mesh net in it!

Connection? Kris is headed to Thailand to coach hockey, or something like that...

Did you know that Greztky won a most improved player award?

Chillaxing afterward... then off to my favourite Toronto bar.

Ronces...The Local kicks some serious ass.

Yeah, this seems like a good idea...

I can't imagine why there are so many pictures from this night...?!

Awwwwweee....

Bahahaha!....

Now look at my new filling! Ahhh... what a great night....

New Year's Eve dinner. "No, don't spin that box on your finger!... oh dear... "

Still gonna eat it.

The Sadies at the Horseshoe brought in the New Year.

In the new year, mom set up an afternoon luncheon with the extended fam for one last free feeding before heading back up to Kingston.

Also, and I really got into mathdoku over the break as well... errr, or more accurately, around exam time. It's like Sudoku, but with math! Trust me, it's awesome, and I think it's a free download. Provides hours/days/about a month and a half so far, of entertainment...

So yeah, how's that for an awesome break?! Two weeks was not enough. I don't even have everything documented up here... Not included in pictures is a beef roast at Adam and Claire's (including the formidable Deadfall), a stroll (and nap) in High Park (it was warm in December!), Unloveables, and did I mention tons of bike riding? Hopefully that gets carried over to Kingston come September, but more on that later... anyway, great holiday vacation, and I'm sure you could see why I wasn't gung-ho about getting back up here. However, as mentioned, sometimes change is really for the best. Errr... at least a little change ;)

Three more

2011-01-14T16:03:00.000-05:00

Afterall, it's Friday afternoon!

Joel Plaskett is coming to town

2011-01-14T15:24:00.000-05:00

... and, we're back.

Joel Plaskett is coming to the Sydenham Street United Church March 15th!

Actually, there are a few good shows coming to town, believe it or not!

Jan 28th - Braids
Jan 29th - New Country Rehab at The Mansion
Feb 1st - Julie Doiron
Feb 4th - Cuff the Duke
Feb 12 - Jim Bryson and Weatherthans Band
(at Grad Club if not specified)

Time for a Plaskett triple bill. Err, three.

Lean on in and let me bend your ear
I heard a little love would go a long way here
If I could, I'd get lost tonight
In the deep dark woods under the neon light

When your light turned green
And the lamp got lit
I made my first mistake
And man I paid for it

What do you want me to do
To make it happen now, happen now
What do you want me to do
To make it happen now, happen now

All my life
Man I been running scared
When I turn around
I don't see nobody there

To be alone
To come undone
To be the one
To be with you
To be alone
To come undone
To be the one
To be with you

What do you want me to do
To make it happen now, happen now
What do you want me to do
To make it happen now, happen now
What do you want me to do
To make it happen now, happen now
What do you want me to do
To make it happen now, happen now

--

And, if Eric can get his act together and to send me his photos, I'll post a Christmas break special later this afternoon! If not, by the end of the weekend, with or without his shots. Promise.

ps. I assume you saw this?

jplaskett Joel Plaskett

Back to it http://tiny.ly/cl7N

The Sunchip Bag

2011-01-03T12:26:00.001-05:00

Seper demonstrates just how loud these bags are.

I'm kinda in love with the bickering here actually... !

Sunchips ditched its bioplastic packaging because people thought the bags were too noisy. How noisy? A commenter on the Consumerist writes "We had a big bag of sun chips in my office once. Only once. The bags crinkle is such a piercing high frequency that it set off the glass-break sensor in the buildings' alarm system. The guard had to keep coming over to make sure the windows were fine." ...Read the full story on TreeHugger

Monday, January 3rd, 2011

2011-01-03T09:36:00.000-05:00

So, watched the Babies documentary (torrent here) last night on a tip, and it was alright, but that's not really the big news. Back in Kingston(!), is the big news, and really, really not feeling like being here. Class this morning at 9:30, 60% assignment due in two weeks, cold, unrested and generally whiney, as you can probably tell. I ended up getting pretty sick last night (thanks, Pietraszek, for waiting until this week to get sick). Woke up in a cold sweat to a dream about the legalization of infanticide in Canada, and the only way to fight it, as you could most likely guess, was through the legal system. And guess who was in charge.

Anyway, obviously a function of not wanting to be here, the documentary, and most likely the cold sweats, but yeah, just a brutal night.

So, feeling a bit better already this morning, but still coughing my head off, and still have some tight calves (signifiying to me that the cold isn't quite over yet), Also, have a haircut scheduled for later today... yeah, yeah, boring update, but, just getting back into the swing of things. Will post pictures of an awesome two weeks in the next few days, and hoping to get back into Toronto on a more regular basis this term.

Isn't today supposed to be a Stat holiday>? Damn.

The Other, Other Voyager

2010-12-15T15:08:00.003-05:00

No, not that Voyageur.

But this one:

The Voyager 1 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram (1,592 lb) robotic space probe of the outer Solar System and beyond, launched by NASA on September 5, 1977. It still receives signals and commands from, and transmits information to Earth, currently pursuing its extended mission to locate and study the boundaries of the Solar System.

Above are the "family portrait" photos of our solar system, which Voyager is responsible for.

It is estimated that both Voyager craft have sufficient electrical power to operate their radio transmitters until at least 2025, which will be over 48 years after launch.

The Voyager, it was just announced, has crossed the terminal shock and entered the heliosheath.

Our sun gives off a stream of charged particles that form a bubble known as the heliosphere around our solar system. The solar wind travels at supersonic speed until it crosses a shockwave called the termination shock. At this point, the solar wind dramatically slows down and heats up in the heliosheath.

Anyway, this blog post isn't really about the Voyager either. It's about the other voyager on the Voyager; the Golden Record.

Click to enlarge. Actually, that works for any picture on the blog, 9/10.

So, what is the Golden Record? Really glad you asked.

The Golden Records (actually, as far as I understand, there are three: 1 on Voyager 1, 1 on Voyager 2, and 1 is locked up somewhere safely on earth) are phonograph records which were included aboard both Voyager spacecraft, which were launched in 1977. They contain sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth, and are intended for any intelligent extraterrestrial life form, or for future humans, who may find them. The Voyager spacecraft are not heading towards any particular star, but Voyager 1 will be within 1.6 light years of the star AC+79 3888 in the Ophiuchus constellation in about 40,000 years.

The contents of the record were selected for NASA by a committee chaired by Carl Sagan of Cornell University. Dr. Sagan and his associates assembled 116 images and a variety of natural sounds, such as those made by surf, wind, and thunder, and animal sounds, including the songs of birds and whales. To this they added musical selections from different cultures and eras, spoken greetings in fifty-five languages, and printed messages from President Jimmy Carter.

The collection of images includes many photographs and diagrams both in black and white and color. The first images are of scientific interest, showing mathematical and physical quantities, the solar system and its planets, DNA, and human anatomy and reproduction. Care was taken to include not only pictures of humanity, but also some of animals, insects, plants and landscapes.

Other sounds of Earth on the record include both natural noises, such as a rainstorm and a chimpanzee, and human-created ones, such as a train and a kiss.

Pictures can be encoded into information on a record. The Voyager golden record has 116 pictures.

Some images contain indications of chemical composition. All measures used on the pictures are defined in the first few images using physical references that are likely to be consistent anywhere in the universe.

The musical selection is also varied, featuring artists such as Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, and Stravinsky and Chuck Berry.

Wasn't this a Prince album cover?

Download the entire Golden Record contents here (torrent). For a quick look, click on the following links for audio of the 55 greetings in different languages, the music from earth, the sounds from earth, and some of the photographs included.

Each image on the record took up about 12 revolutions. Of the 116 images, about 20 were in colour. Colour was achieved by recording every colour image three times in succession, one greyscale image each for the red, green and blue portions; this gave a combined colour depth of 12 bits or 4096 colours (individual image depth was 16 shades of grey, or 4 bits). Combining the three would give the original image.

The first colour image was of the solar spectrum, intended as a calibration tool so the viewer could establish colour settings for viewing the rest of the colour images. It was believed any species capable of intercepting either Voyager probe would understand a solar spectrum.

--

Ok, let's do some math and see where/how this thing is going...

Seriously, this thing is travelling at ~17 km/s, 61,000 km/hr, and making no headway. Really. About 534 360 000 km/year, or half a billion km/year.

Let's take the 4th closest start from us, Wolf 359. It's in the Leo constellation (remember the Leonids?) and is 7.7 light years away.

First,1 light year = ~9460528472580.8 km, or 9.4605284 × 10¹² km.

So 7.7 Light Years = 72847624638872.16 km, or 7.28476246 x 10¹³km.

To put it another way, the Voyager has travelled 17.4 billion kilometers. How many light years is that?

But, 17400000000 km = only 0.001839 Light Years.

Not even 1/2 of 1% of a light year. INSANE! One light year is 9460000000000 km (or 9.46 trillion km).

SO, to travel 7.7 light years at its current pace, it's going to have to travel for (approximately, given I've done everything right.. ) 138,160 years to get there, or, to put it in perspective,* about the length of time Homo Sapiens have been around.

*Not really.

So, a long time, but not that long I suppose, when put into an even greater perspective.

In about 40,000 years both craft should coast to within 1.7 light-years (Voyager 1) or 1.1 light-years (Voyager 2) of AC+79 3888, a fourth magnitude star. Voyager 2 should pass a similar distance from another star (AC -24 2833-183) 100,000 years later in Sagittarius, and about 375,000 years after that, Voyager 1 will pass within 1.5 light-years of AM +21 652 in the constellation of Taurus.

The records on board were meant to survive for a billion years (constructed of gold-plated copper and is encased in aluminum), in the hope that some day, against enormous odds, they might cross paths with an alien civilization.

There is also an ultra-pure sample of the isotope uranium-238 electroplated on the record's cover. Uranium-238 has a half-life of 4.51 billion years. It is possible that a civilization that encounters the record will be able to use the ratio of remaining uranium to daughter elements to determine the age of the record.

--

Ok, so, back to the actual record.
The record cover.

Each record is encased in a protective aluminum jacket, together with a cartridge and a needle to play them. The cover of the record is pretty impressive. It is the key to using and understanding the information. The cover of the Golden Records tells:

How to play the record
How to get images from the record
Where our solar system is, mapped from several known pulsars
The length of 1 second

And an explanation of the cover diagrams:

For the sake of space, more good explanation here: http://everything2.com/title/Voyager+Golden+Record

--

OK, one last, and great piece of information on the Golden Record.

Carl Sagan was put in charge of this phenomenal project. Of course, Sagan had a lot of help, including the creative director of the project, Ann Druyan.

"It was a chance to tell something of what life on Earth was like to beings of perhaps 1,000 million years from now," Druyan says. "If that didn't raise goose bumps, then you'd have to be made out of wood."

For Druyan, though, the summer of 1977 and the Voyager project carry a deeply personal meaning, too. It was during the Voyager project that she and Sagan fell in love.

After searching endlessly for a piece of Chinese music to put on the record, Druyan had finally found a 2,500-year-old song called "Flowing Stream." In her excitement, she called Sagan and left a message at his hotel. At that point, Druyan and Sagan had been professional acquaintances and friends, but nothing more. But an hour later, when Sagan called back, something happened. By the end of that call, Druyan and Sagan were engaged to be married.

Ann Druyan and Carl Sagan circa 1977.

"We both hung up the phone, and I just screamed out loud," says Druyan, "It was this great eureka moment. It was like a scientific discovery." The first of the Voyager project's two spacecraft launched on Aug. 20, 1977. Druyan and Sagan announced their engagement two days later. They married in 1981, and were together until Sagan's death in December 1996.

But the evidence of their love has taken on a life of its own. Not long after that serendipitous phone call, Druyan had an idea for the record: They could measure the electrical impulses of a human brain and nervous system, turn it into sound, and put it on the record. Then maybe, 1,000 million years from now, some alien civilization might be able to turn that data back into thoughts.

So, just a few days after she and Sagan declared their love for each other, Druyan went to Bellevue Hospital in New York City and meditated while the sounds of her brain and body were recorded. According to Druyan, part of what she was thinking during that meditation was about "the wonder of love, of being in love."

How awesome is that.

Remember Matt Wilson? He's the dude from the sleep post who hooked up rat brains to neural signal monitors. Matt has gotten so good at decoding the neuronal signatures that he can now just listen to the brainwaves, and without looking at the rats, he knows what they're doing. So yeah, it definitely is possible to interpret actions, and most likely feelings, from firing neurotransmitters. And, awesomely, travelling through space, the sounds of a human body newly in love recorded, that feeling of love recorded, and to be potentially interpreted by some other species a billion years from now, long after we're gone. So fucking cool.

--

Anyway, there are a bunch of used hardcopies; hardbacks, paperbacks, CD-ROM versions, etc, of The Golden Record books available (see here), and they would, ahem, make a great Christmas gift.

ref:
http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/goldenrec.html
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/voyager/voyager20101213.html
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123534818
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_Golden_Record

--

Voyager and its record appear in the episode entitled "Parasites Lost" of the animated television series Futurama. Turanga Leela scrapes the spacecraft off her ship's windshield while stopped at a galactic "truck stop".

In a Saturday Night Live segment, Steve Martin announced that the first message from extraterrestrials was being received. Once decoded, the message stated, "Send more Chuck Berry."

Who is Edward Albee?

2010-12-15T08:28:00.005-05:00

There is, what I consider, a pretty good interview in Vice with Edward Albee. Reading it and not fully knowing who he is (and still obviously not really knowing), I still pulled some good nuggets out of it; it was a good read.

But, I thought it might be interesting to get to know him a bit beyond Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Edward F. Albee was born in Virginia on March 12th 1928, adopted by Reed and Frances Albee. His father was part owner of the Keith-Albee vaudeville circuit.* Edward was raised in luxury, in the family's Larchmont mansion, also occupied by Mrs. Albee's mother to whom he became very attached. Grandma Cotter, to whom he dedicated his 1960 play The Sandbox, left him a trust fund that enabled him to strike out on his own.

*The origin of the term "vaudeville" is obscure, but is often explained as being derived from the expression voix de ville, or "voice of the city." Another plausible etymology finds origins in the French Vau de Vire, a valley in Normandy noted for its style of satirical songs with topical themes. The term vaudeville, referring specifically to North American variety entertainment, came into common usage after 1871 with the formation of Sargent's Great Vaudeville Company of Louisville, Kentucky. It had little, if anything, to do with the Comédie en vaudeville of the French theatre.

In May 1928, a controlling portion of stock Keith-Albee vaudeville circuit was sold to Joseph P. Kennedy (President Kennedy's father) from whom it was purchased in October by the (RCA) as part of the deal that created the Radio Corporation of Americamajor motion picture studio Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO Radio Pictures). After the establishment of RKO, motion pictures became the primary focus of entertainment at the former KAO theaters. Vaudeville survived only as an interlude for feature films.

Albee's first job was writing continuity dialogue for radio station WNYC. After leaving his parents' home to settle in Greenwich Village he spend years holding a variety of jobs -- including three years as a Western Union messenger. They supplemented his trust and were chosen because they were dead ends and would not interfere with his primary vocation: writing.

On his thirtieth birthday in 1958, he quit his job with Western Union and wrote The Zoo Story* in three weeks. Albee's first and major "hit" was Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? which opened at Broadway's Billy Rose Theater on October 3, 1963, starring Uta Hagen and Arthur Hill as the battling George and Martha. It ran for 664 performances and was made into a popular film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton (download movie torrent here). Albee nabbed three Pulitzers, for A Delicate Balance in 1966, Seascape in 1975 and Three Tall Women in 1991. This last seemed to restore his popularity with New York critics and audiences who had been treating him like the unwelcome guests in plays like A Delicate Balance.

Trademarks Of Albee's Plays
Albee can be classified with theatrical experimenters whose work jumped the boundaries of American drama. His style embraces existentialism, abusurdism as well as the metaphysical. His plays tend to puzzle. While not easy "night out" fare they are also full of satirically witty and sharp dialogue. The Albee audience consists of those who value being challenged and appreciate theater that, if it existed, would fit into the School of Anti-Complacency. His failures at the box office are as well known as his critical successes. As described by the playwright himself his plays are" an examination of the American Scene, an attack on the substitution of artificial for real values in our society, a condemnation of complacency, cruelty, and emasculation and vacuity, a stand against the fiction that everything in this slipping land of ours is peachy-keen."

Anyway, read the short interview with him here. Nothing profound, just curious. Basically, it's always good, I think, to listen to old interesting people when they talk about their lives.

ref: http://www.curtainup.com/albee.html

--

*The Zoo Story: I fully realize this wikipedia summary below is both a crude and silly way to go about things, but what the hell; I wanted to understand the following cartoon.

This one-act play concerns two characters, Peter and Jerry. Peter is a middle-class publishing executive with a wife, two daughters, two cats and two parakeets who lives in ignorance of the world outside his settled life. Jerry is an isolated and disheartened man who lives in a boarding house and is very troubled. These men meet on a park bench in New York City's Central Park. Jerry is desperate to have a meaningful conversation with another human being. He intrudes on Peter’s peaceful state by interrogating him and forcing him to listen to stories from his life, including "THE STORY OF JERRY AND THE DOG", and the reason behind his visit to the zoo. The action is linear, unfolding in front of the audience in “real time”. The elements of ironic humor and unrelenting dramatic suspense are brought to a climax when Jerry brings his victim down to his own savage level.

The catalyst for the shocking ending transpires when Peter announces, "I really must be going home;..." Jerry, in response, begins to tickle Peter. Peter giggles, laughs and agrees to listen to Jerry finish telling "what happened at the zoo." At the same time Jerry begins pushing Peter off the bench. Peter decides to fight for his territory on the bench and becomes angry. Unexpectedly, Jerry pulls a knife on Peter, and then drops it as initiative for Peter to grab. When Peter holds the knife defensively, Jerry charges him and impales himself on the knife. Bleeding on the park bench, Jerry finishes his zoo story by bringing it into the immediate present, "Could I have planned all this. No... no, I couldn't have. But I think I did." Horrified, Peter runs away from Jerry whose dying words, "Oh...my...God", are a combination of scornful mimicry and supplication.

Possible HIV cure?

2010-12-13T23:51:00.000-05:00

Doctors who carried out a stem cell transplant on an HIV-infected man with leukaemia in 2007 say they now believe the man to have been cured of HIV infection as a result of the treatment, which introduced stem cells which happened to be resistant to HIV infection.

The man received bone marrow from a donor who had natural resistance to HIV infection; this was due to a genetic profile which led to the CCR5 co-receptor being absent from his cells. The most common variety of HIV uses CCR5 as its ‘docking station’, attaching to it in order to enter and infect CD4 cells, and people with this mutation are almost completely protected against infection.

Doctors chose stem cells from an individual who had an unusual genetic profile: a mutation inherited from both parents that resulted in CD4 cells that lacked the CCR5 receptor. This mutation, called CCR5 delta 32 homozygosity, is present in less than 1% of Caucasians in northern and western Europe, and is associated with a reduced risk of becoming infected with HIV.

This is because all new infecting viruses need to use the CCR5 receptor on CD4 cells when infecting an immune system cell of the CD4 type.

Before the stem cell transplant the patient received chemotherapy treatment that destroyed most immune cells and total body irradiation, and also received immunosuppressive drugs to prevent rejection of the stem cells. One of the challenges for any approach to curing HIV infection is long-lived immune system cells, which need to be cleared before a patient can be cured.

The repopulation of CD4 cells was accompanied by the complete disappearance of host CD4 cells, and after two years the patient had the CD4 count of a healthy adult of the same age.

In the case of the Berlin patient CCR5-bearing macrophages could not be detected after 38 months, suggesting that chemotherapy had destroyed these longer-lived cells, and that they had also been replaced by donor cells.

--

The `Berlin patient`, Timothy Ray Brown, a US citizen who lives in Berlin, was interviewed this week by German news magazine Stern.

His course of treatment for leukaemia was gruelling and lengthy. Brown suffered two relapses and underwent two stem cell transplants, as well as a serious neurological disorder that flared up when he seemed to be on the road to recovery.

The neurological problem led to temporary blindness and memory problems. Brown is still undergoing physiotherapy to help restore his coordination and gait, as well as speech therapy.

Friends have noticed a personality change too: he is much more blunt, possibly a disinhibition that is related to the neurological problems.

On being asked if it would have been better to live with HIV than to have beaten it in this way he says “Perhaps. Perhaps it would have been better, but I don’t ask those sorts of questions anymore.”

If a cure has been achieved in this patient, it points the way towards attempts to develop a cure for HIV infection through genetically engineered stem cells.

Scientists were sufficiently intrigued by the Berlin patient that they met in Berlin in 2009 to discuss how they could coordinate efforts to identify CCR5-delta32 homozygous donors and expand the supply of stem cells from these donors, for example through sampling blood cells from the umbilical cord of babies born to mothers who are homozygous for CCR5-delta32, in order to eventually facilitate stem-cell therapy.

--

More CCR5 info.

People with two copies of the CCR5 delta32 gene (inherited from both parents) are virtually immune to HIV infection. This occurs in about 1% of Caucasian people.

One copy of CCR5-delta32 seems to give some protection against infection, and makes the disease less severe if infection occurs. This is more common, it is found in up to 20% of Caucasians.

Should everyone be tested for this mutation? Not necessarily. It would be dangerous to assume you are completely safe from infection if you have the CCR5-delta32 mutation.

It's not an airtight guarantee of never getting AIDS. Some unusual types of HIV can use other proteins for entering cells. Rarely, there have been people who have two mutant CCR5 genes who have died from AIDS.

Also, CCR5 is not the whole story of immunity to HIV infection. Some resistant people have been found who have two perfectly normal copies of CCR5. So other genes also contribute to slowing down HIV infection, and scientists are busy trying to identify them.

http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1577949/
http://www.thetech.org/genetics/news.php?id=13
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/relevance/IA2HIV2.shtml

Engine

2010-12-12T22:12:00.000-05:00

For I am an engine and I'm holding on
The world is all bending and breaking from me
For sweetness alone who flew out through the window
And landed back home in a garden of green

You're riding alone in the back of a steamer
And steaming yourself in the warm shower spray
And water rolls on off the round captain's belly
Who's talking to tigers from his cafeteria tray

And sweet babies cry for the cool taste of milking
That milky delight that invited us all
And if there's a taste in this life more inviting
Then wake up your windows and watch as those sweet babies crawl away

Jeff Mangum plays to 75 in NYC last Saturday night.
http://www.internationaltapes.com/reviews/jeff-mangum-live-at-the-schoolhouse/

Elephant 6 collective in Toronto Friday March 18th: http://www.chromewaves.net/2010/12/elephant-6-collective-to-tour-north-america-yelling-surprise

Pilot Pietraszek

2010-12-11T17:38:00.000-05:00

My cousin Justyna flying from Yellowknife - Inuvik - Whitehorse last week (nevermind the date thing on the photos.. ). Apparently they flew C-130 Hercules in minus 29 degree weather.

This is amazing Justyna. Crazy amazing. I'm really proud of you.

The Gorey update

2010-12-11T17:21:00.000-05:00

Here's the list for what went for what.

Most expensive coat?

Six grand for this one:

However, you could have taken this one home for around $1600 USD.

Anyway, check out the list... a few things ended up going unsold, including a few prints and first editions.

Just the illustrations here...

Anyway, cool shit, but what a weird dude.

Would YOU like to own a vintage Edward Gorey fur coat??!!

2010-12-08T19:02:00.001-05:00

This Thursday, December 9th
Bloomsbury Auctions
6 WEST 48th st.
11am

Link

14 fur coats owned and worn by Edward Gorey.

Hide your Kids! Hide your Wife!

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Arsenic life? NASA is a joke.

2010-12-06T20:14:00.001-05:00

It's starting to look like the arsenic life forms was a hoax/very bad science.

Long story short? The NASA team had a hypothesis and tried to prove it rather than try to find out what actually happened.

1) They improperly cleaned the DNA (or, not at all) before analyzing it. It's like me taking a bath in epsom salts, not showering down after, and then claiming that magnesium sulphate has entered my DNA.

"The Methods describes a standard ethanol precipitation with no washing (and no column purification which would have included washing), so I think some arsenate could easily have been carried over with the DNA, especially if it is not very soluble in 70% ethanol. Would this arsenate have left the DNA during the gel purification? Maybe not - the methods don't say that the DNA was purified away from the agarose gel matrix before being analyzed. This step is certainly standard, but if it was omitted then any contaminating arsenic might have been carried over into the elemental analysis." (link)

2) Further, instead of actually looking at the DNA to make sure, they just analyze my entire body and tell me that because there is such a high concentration of magnesium sulphate attached to me, my DNA must be made of magnesium sulphate. There is a way (mass spectroscopy) to read the DNA directly... but not for NASA!

3) ok, so they did try to at least separate the DNA from the rest of the cell (not clean it, mind you). This process is called phenol-chloroform extraction, and it's apparently a fairly straight forward lab technique. Only one problem; it involves water.

The long standing and well known issue with Arsenic DNA backbones is that arsenic bonds are very unstable, and too unstable to sustain life. So when exposed to water, these bonds break up within minutes (they have a half-life of ten minutes in water). The NASA theory goes that the cell had developed protein machinery to overcome this half-life problem through protection or at least a constant repair mechanism. The problem of course arises when you separate the protein machinery from the arsenic DNA backbone; it should break-up. However, it didn't. The DNA was extracted from the phenol-chloroform process (submerged in water and chemicals) after an hour or so still in long strands! This kinda plainly shows that the DNA did not contain arsenic, and in fact was probably/most likely still made with phosphorus.

4) Apparently this "depleted" phosphorus environment was not so "depleted". The second article below crunches the numbers and shows that there is actually more than enough phosphorus in the final substrate dilution for regular DNA to form.

For these bacteria to be able to form arsenic DNA strands, evolution tells us that there would have to be a selective pressure, or a reason why for the switch from the dependable phosphorus to the arsenic. Just because there is a lot of arsenic around in Lake Mono, doesn't mean that there is not enough phosphorus to form DNA. And in fact, that's the case. There is enough phosphorus in Lake Mono to form regular DNA strands.

The "depleted" phosphate solution provided to the bacteria by the experimenters had concentration of 3 micro molar phosphate. Is that a lot, or a little? Well, the Sargasso Sea has a phosphorus concentration that is 300 times less than the substrate phosphorus concentration provided by the NASA experimenters, and even there, the bacteria still use phosphorus in their DNA (they do succumb to the phosphorus pressures somewhat by removing phosphorus from their lipids, but keep it in their DNA...). So, with no evolutionary pressure, what made the experimenters think that they would take something that was admittedly abundant and incorporate it into their DNA? That's ridiculous.

That's like me saying I'm going to suddenly start incorporating lots of poo into my daily diet, because, ya know, there's a lot of it available!

Fucking NASA. I'm no rocket scientist, but looking for more funding by increasing the public perception that life on other planets is now "easier" to find? Uhhh... this is so frustrating. This is a joke, and will ultimately come back to bite them. Just. horrible. science. Embarrassing. NASA is a joke.

Re: arsenate hydrolysis, improper cleaning techniques without controls, no direct evidence (no mass spectrometer DNA sequencing done) --
http://scienceblogs.com/webeasties/2010/12/guest_post_arsenate-based_dna.php?utm_source=sbhomepage&utm_medium=link&utm_content=channellink

Re: more improper techniques, amount of available phosphate in solid numbers --
http://rrresearch.blogspot.com/2010/12/arsenic-associated-bacteria-nasas.html

From: http://neuroskeptic.blogspot.com/2010/12/science-bloggers-vs-science.html

I've got a lot, a lot of time for this man.

2010-12-05T18:16:00.000-05:00

Yeah, no posts in a while; fair enough. Just exam time, and I feel like I'm in the consuming mode at the moment, not really in a producing one...

I've got a few posts lined up (15 at last count) and will get them up starting Thursday and Friday, after the exams that count have passed. Until then, start catching up on your Feynman.