As I reported a month ago, I am taking a season or so off from running due to surgery and recovery...this does not mean, however, that I stopped walking. For the first couple of weeks in July I racked up some miles in that regard, mostly at my workplace. But starting July 15th when I had the operation, my walking mileage naturally nosedived...still, July is a walking month and during it I accumulated about 57 miles. As recovery progresses in August my walking mileage is sure to increase as well, but I'm looking forward to the day when I resume running and these month-end reports once again include this activity...
Saturday, July 31, 2021
Friday, July 30, 2021
Quote of the Week...from Charlie Dent
Thursday, July 29, 2021
Just Finished Reading Cosmic Queries by Neil deGrasse Tyson and James Trefil
In 2021 Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist, science popularizer, host of the television series Cosmos and ongoing podcaster with his audio show StarTalk, published a new book that he co-wrote with physicist James Trefil titled Cosmic Queries (subtitled StarTalk's Guide to Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We're Going)...I just finished reading it. It's great popular science reading, exploring the current state of research in just about any area you can imagine: quantum mechanics, the universe's origin, fundamental forces and particles, the nature of life, computer science, basics of astronomy, all about planets, stars, and their births and deaths, the history of scientific inquiry and investigation, the different theories concerning life elsewhere in the cosmos, multiverses, supervolcanoes (there are 20 in the world), mass extinctions and the end of the universe, to mention a few items. What really got to me was the more detailed exposition of quantum mechanics and its bizarre depiction of fundamental forces in terms of exchange of "virtual" particles, as well as two completely different, well-documented versions of the universe's age...12.5 or 13.8 billion years, each conclusion backed by accurate experimental data: how can this be? The topics hop around from chapter to chapter in no discernible pattern, but that worked for me: I was happy to just sit back and let the information rain down. The book is also loaded with many useful illustrations and diagrams to help with understanding the various concepts presented. Also, interspersed with the text are pithy, witty Tweets from Tyson relating to the ongoing content...in books like this you don't know how much the headline author wrote and how much his collaborator, in this case James Trefil, contributed...but it all fit together seamlessly. I thought Cosmic Queries was both entertaining and informative, and it introduced me to the StarTalk podcast hosted by Tyson, which I can listen to on my smartphone's TuneIn Radio app. I don't intend to become a physicist anytime in the near future, and you most likely won't either. But deliberate and regular exposure to scientific thought processes is one thing we can do to inoculate ourselves from the onrush of really bad ideas currently infecting our society through social and mass media...
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
Weekly Short Stories: 1974 Science Fiction, Part 4
Tuesday, July 27, 2021
Game(s) of the Week: Bombardment and Prisonball
Monday, July 26, 2021
More Jigsaw Puzzles I've Done Recently
For the few days preceding my admission to the hospital I returned to my old pastime of putting together jigsaw puzzles...from the above pictures you can see that I'm pretty flexible with the pictured images. The top puzzle shows international postage stamps depicting native bird life, which I got as a family gift. Next comes "Ralph Breaks the Internet", a Pixar movie that I haven't yet seen: I picked up the tiny-sized 300-piece puzzle at Dollar Tree. Number Three is an interesting arrangement of fruit...looks like I'll be increasing my consumption of them in the future. And finally...and the most striking...is a view of Arizona's Glen Canyon National Recreation Center: specifically Horseshoe Bend. As I recuperate from my surgery I've got a few more ready to open up, lay out on the table, and assemble. The other day I went to Books-a-Million where I bought the Horseshoe Bend puzzle. They have some exceptional jigsaw puzzles, even one with 3000 pieces! For now, though, I have a difficult-looking 1000-piece puzzle showing purple plants (another gift) and a multi-pack (purchased from Wal-Mart around the corner). Looking forward to doing them...
Sunday, July 25, 2021
Great Old TV Episodes...from Seinfeld
Saturday, July 24, 2021
Just Finished Reading Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
Friday, July 23, 2021
Quote of the Week...from Neil deGrasse Tyson
Thursday, July 22, 2021
Just Finished Reading How Music Works by John Powell
John Powell is something of a Renaissance man, with his online bio showing him to be a scientist...in particular a physicist with a "focus" on lasers, an entrepreneur with his laser firm, a musical composer, and of course a writer. The Englishman's 2010 book How Music Works gives an overview on many different levels about the nature of music, including the science of acoustics as they pertain to pitch and loudness and how different musical instruments accomplish their production of music and differ from one another. I was surprised to read that musical notes did not actually become universally standardized until the mid-twentieth century. He also delves into how people perceive pitch (including the notion of "perfect pitch"), and how a heard note's pitch is often simply a recognition of its base note even though higher-octave versions of it are present (and sometimes that base note isn't). Although these things were all interesting, in my opinion the book took off when Powell began discussing the history of music, especially as it pertained to the development of different types. Although we in the West are used to the Major and Minor scales, it is the five-note Pentatonic scale that has prevailed over much of the world, in very disparate and diverse cultures over the course of time. And besides the Major and Minor scales there are others that in centuries past were more commonly used...even recently the Dorian scale was employed in songs like Scarborough Fair and Eleanor Rigby. Most of all, the author stressed that in all music the composer and performer have as one of their main goals the aim of keeping the audience interested in what is going on...to that end much of the structure of songs (including key changes and note diversions) and classical music has evolved into more or less standardized forms: just to keep folks from zoning out. Toward the end of the book he discussed the various pros and cons of learning to play different musical instruments: for beginners, guitar and piano are good and violin and trombone, the latter two without specific note settings, are much more difficult to start with. Yet he also pointed out that violins can play only one note at a time while piano learning can get pretty complex, what with all the chords and the ability to simultaneously hit a number of keys...so down the line it all evens out. And some composers...at least the good ones...will write their music for different instruments with the recognition that some keys are easier to play on them than others. Powell went deeply into how music evokes different feelings, such as ascending notes, loudness, and the type of key. Yet he also disputed the claim that one of the twelve keys within a Major or Minor system is essentially different in imparting emotion than another, a belief that even greats like Beethoven subscribed to. I've only scratched the surface with this amazing book that does a great job of introducing someone like me to music: I've always loved listening to it, but in the production end of the art such as playing an instrument, singing or composing I've never truly engaged. John Powell asserts that most of us can learn to play an instrument to basic competency level...it's those extra ten years + natural talent which exceptional musicians require that often intimidate the rest of us into never starting...
Wednesday, July 21, 2021
Weekly Short Stories: 1974 Science Fiction, Part 3
Tuesday, July 20, 2021
Game of the Week: Cash Cab
Cash Cab is a TV game show, currently shown on Bravo, originally aired on the Discovery Channel. The host, Ben Bailey, drives his taxi through the streets of New York...usually Manhattan...just like any other cab until the passengers step in and then the lights start flashing above and recognition dawns upon them: the game is on! Each destination is different, of course, but the rules are the same. It's a trivia game and the passengers have three strikes (missed answers) before they are ejected from the cab. Each correctly answered question awards them more cash and if they get to the end still in the game, Ben gives them the chance to go double-or-nothing with a final video quiz. They can also call someone on their cell for help or do street-side or social media "shout-outs". Having visited Manhattan in 2010, I enjoy the different routes and street photography showing the throng and surrounding buildings. I also like the fact that although the contestants tend to be tourists or residents, they don't have to pass auditions to get in on the action as is the case with other game shows. Cash Cab isn't always filmed in New York, but the overwhelming majority of episodes are. Ben Bailey is a great host and I admire that fact that he can deftly pilot his taxi through heavy New York traffic without missing a beat with his questions and the guests. And if you want to see diversity with the contestants on many different levels, you won't do any better than this series...
Monday, July 19, 2021
Just Finished Reading The Witches by Roald Dahl
The Witches, which I just finished reading and discovered was made into a movie last year starring Anne Hathaway, is my sixth Roald Dahl book (all for children), published in 1983. A boy stays with his Norwegian grandmother after his parents are both killed in an accident...she wastes little time in enlightening and warning him about the danger of witches in the world. They all hate children and have as their main goal in life making as many "disappear" as possible, through different applications of their dark magic...often turning them into different animals. They all go in disguises to blend in with the rest of the population...you can tell witches by their wearing gloves at all times (to cover the claws they have on their fingers), wearing itchy wigs (to cover their baldness), and a slight limp in their walk (none of them have toes), to mention some of the more striking clues. They can stiff out a child from great distances...the cleaner the kid, the worse they smell to the witches. After staying with his grandmother, the news arrives that the boy's father had willed that she be his legal custodian...but that he would go back to England where they had lived before the accident and finish his education there. Well, you just know that the boy will encounter the witches, and the author doesn't disappoint...I'll just leave what happens at that so that I don't spoil the ending. My reaction to the story is that it can make kids really, really scared of strangers and put into their little minds the notion that people at-large are out to get them: I believe children should be trained to be cautious around strangers but not like this. But if you're setting out to tell a scary story in this genre, then I guess if you're successful you're going to end up with a lot of frightened children. And I think of all the over-the-top, gruesome fairy tales I heard and read when I was young. I thought The Witches was interesting reading, but it probably ticked off a lot of people...especially, I imagine, many in the Pagan movement...
Sunday, July 18, 2021
Great Old TV Episodes...from Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown
Saturday, July 17, 2021
Constellation of the Month: Ophiuchus (the Serpent-Bearer)
Friday, July 16, 2021
Quote of the Week...from Isaac Asimov
Thursday, July 15, 2021
Just Finished Reading Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm
Science fiction writer Kate Wilhelm's 1976 novel Where the Sweet Birds Sang, which I just finished reading, examines the notions of cloning and social division in the context of a post-apocalyptic world where the population has been decimated by pollution and disease...and sterility. The setting is an isolated part of the Shenandoah Valley and the story takes place over three generations. Facing extinction, David's family...featuring brilliant scientists such as himself...undertake the task, first of cloning livestock that wasn't reproducing normally and then, of humans using himself and other family members as models. The gambit works in that the clones survive...but since clones of a person seem to have a sort of telepathic link with each other, they develop a completely different worldview than normal humans and even come to see themselves as a separate species. The clones take over the family estate and condemn individualism, which they see as an abomination. But with the story's final two main protagonists, clone Molly and her naturally-born son Mark, the author demonstrates that while a sense of social cohesion has its advantages and is even necessary, it is also crucial that each person's individual worth is recognized and valued. Will the community survive, and what about the rest of the world? A nightmarish look at a future world that may not be as distantly ahead of us as we would like...
Wednesday, July 14, 2021
Weekly Short Stories: 1974 Science Fiction, Part 2
Tuesday, July 13, 2021
Game of the Week: Minesweeper
Monday, July 12, 2021
Surgery for Me on Thursday
In three days, on Thursday July 15th, I will be undergoing some pretty involved surgery, centered around replacing a defective heart valve that I was born with and repairing the lifelong damage from that defect. I am confident that all will go well and I will make a full recovery and be able, before too long, to return to my active lifestyle. But in the meantime I've been told that following the procedure I will be in intensive care about two days and in the hospital a week...if all goes according to plan. After that it will be me at home recovering for a few weeks, with physical therapy naturally involved in the process. For that hospital stay at least I will not be writing anything for this blog. But if you keep checking in during that period, you'll still find articles here: I've written them in advance! Hopefully, once I'm back home I'll be able to resume writing and posting. It was late 2011 when, after going to an "after-hours" doctor for a sinus infection, he detected a heart murmur and recommended I see my regular physician...whose tests began to uncover the problem. Subsequent tests the following January revealed the scope of the situation, and since then I've had annual exams and consults with my thoracic surgeon over whether to go ahead with the prescribed corrective surgery...this past April he finally came out in favor of it. So here I go...
Sunday, July 11, 2021
Great Old TV Episodes...from The Addams Family
Saturday, July 10, 2021
The Moon is a Puzzle
Friday, July 9, 2021
Quote of the Week...from Robert Frost
Thursday, July 8, 2021
Just Finished Reading The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
Back on Sunday June 27th I was watching Fareed Zakharia on CNN and he had on as a guest Malcom Gladwell, a podcaster/author who tends to focus on trends in society and his special take on history. Intrigued, I checked out his 2000 first book, The Tipping Point, to get a better idea as to what his mindset was/is. In it he claimed that in society there are movements whose "infection" mimic that of epidemics in that once they pass a certain threshold, i.e. the "tipping point", they explode among the population. Citing numerous examples of different trends he thinks fit this model, Gladwell then goes on to outline the various parameters of such phenomena. First he posits three rules: the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context. From the first rule, his belief is that only a relatively small number of people are responsible for exploding a social "epidemic": Connectors (people who know people), Mavens (people who know information), and Salesmen (persuaders with great negotiating abilities). With his second rule, Stickiness refers to the memorable value of something, that "sticks" with people and keeps the trend in conversation. And with the third, it is essential that whatever movement or trend is being advanced must be relevant to the time, place and circumstance surrounding it. The author cuts across many areas with his examples, from the drop of crime in New York City in the 1990s to a syphilis outbreak in Baltimore to Paul Revere's ride to John Wesley's evangelism to Rebecca Wells' bestseller Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood...to mention only some of the more prominent cases. The Tipping Point is loaded with a sense of scientific and statistical authority to its premises...which automatically sounds off warning bells in my head. In the end, I regard Malcolm Gladwell's assertations as his own well-informed opinion, and think that in this day and age of QAnon, pandemic and vaccine conspiracy theories and election denial, belief trends also may follow this model he laid out...and clearly not for the better...
Wednesday, July 7, 2021
Weekly Short Stories: 1974 Science Fiction, Part 1
Tuesday, July 6, 2021
Game of the Week: Parcheesi
Monday, July 5, 2021
Just Finished Reading Just Take My Heart by Mary Higgins Clark
Sunday, July 4, 2021
Great Old TV Episodes...from All in the Family
Saturday, July 3, 2021
Just Finished Reading Do Over by Jon Acuff
Jon Acuff is a motivational writer and speaker. I've recently read two of his books, Finish (2017) and Start (2013), each one reflecting in its title advice about approaching projects and personal goals. In his 2015 book Do Over (long title Do Over: Make Today the First Day of Your New Career), he tackles the subject of career change and the essential elements of success as he sees them. Acuff structures his presentation around something he calls the Career Savings Account, broken into four areas: Relationships (who you know), Skills (what you do), Character (who you are), and Hustle (how you work). He goes on with each of these, breaking them down further and tying them all together as they apply to the four different circumstances of career or life change: Voluntary/Positive, Voluntary/Negative, Involuntary/Positive, and Involuntary/Negative. Along the way in his narrative he adds concepts like Attitude, Expectations, Grit, Chaos, and Flexibility. He also is a big advocate of folks writing down their introspective insights, especially in regard to their fears and other negative feelings. I thought Jon Acuff did a much better job at organizing and presenting his message in a way that the reader can more easily reference in the future after reading the book...to this extent Do Over is more like his more recent Finish and I recommend them both over his earlier Start. Personally, I am not contemplating a career change in the strict sense to which the author was referring, but I do plan to retire in a couple of years or so and realize that this will involve a great deal of change...and much of what Acuff was saying in this book was meaningful to me...
Friday, July 2, 2021
Quote of the Week...from Fictional Character John Mallory
Thursday, July 1, 2021
My June 2021 Running and Walking Report
In June I ran a total of 83 miles and walked a little more than 100. No super-long runs, and I missed 8 days running. On June 12th I ran in the weekly Saturday morning 5K Depot Parkrun here in Gainesville under very warm and excessively humid conditions...not enjoyable at all! This will be my last monthly running and walking report for a while since I am going to be undergoing some rather involved surgery in the near future and recovery will necessarily preempt any sort of athletic activity for a few months. I do hope that eventually I'll be able to get back to running and walking once I've fully recovered...