In Major League Baseball, the post-season playoffs to determine the championship involves eight teams: the three divisional winners from each league along with the second-place team from each league with the best regular season win-loss record (designated as the wild card team). In the American League (from this morning's paper), Boston is leading the East at 61-37, Detroit is leading the Central at 53-47, and Texas is leading the West at 58-43. The best second-place team so far is the East's New York Yankees, with a 58-40 mark. For the sake of this article, I'll leave out the National League except to say that "my" Atlanta Braves would be a wild card team were the season to end today...
In the newspaper sports section standings, they have traditionally listed how many "games behind" each team is from the divisional leader, in the column designated "GB". For example, at 58-40, the Yanks are three games behind Boston's 61-37. But lately they've added a new column next to "GB": "WC", or "wild card". This tells how many games behind the current wild leader a team is in the regular season so far. So for example, Central's second place team Cleveland, at 51-47, is seven games behind New York for the wild card spot. This is interesting in that they are only one game behind Detroit for first place in their own division! Now, this is all well and fine until the printed standings show how far behind divisional-leader Detroit is in the wild card race: zero games!
Wait a minute, in strict terms of their regular season records, Central's Detroit, at 53-47, is six games behind East's New York's 58-40. Just because the Tigers happen to be leading their division RIGHT NOW doesn't alter this fact. Detroit could lose their next two games and suddenly find themselves in second place. And then the paper would list THEM as being substantially behind in the wild card race and new leader Cleveland as being zero games behind.
The point to all this is that those devising this "WC" column in the baseball standings would be better informing their readers were they to list how many (if any) games behind the current wild card team each divisional leader was, instead of showing a "-" indicating "zero games behind". For some divisions are simply stronger than others, and in those weak divisions the races can be tight with no room in the playoffs for finishing second. A reader would want to know how far out of the wild card race their team would be were they to slip out of their weak division's lead.
Of course, with me this is all beside the point: I don't need the WC column any more than I do the GB column: just looking at the teams' win-loss records tells me all I want to know. But some folks, I understand, aren't all that quick with numbers...
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Sports Illustrated Women's World Cup Cover
Perhaps, if you have been following sports lately (or even just the news), you might have become aware that in international soccer, women on various national teams have been playing for their version of the World Cup. The American team looked to capture the title, but were surprised by Japan in the final, with the game decided in a shoot-out after a 2-2 tie in regulation. So Japan is the women's soccer World Cup champion for the next four years! Congratulations to them, right? I say so and think their players deserve international sports fame, in the same way that the stars of the U.S. team enjoyed renown after their own Cup title a few years ago. Only one problem, though...
I was glancing at the cover of our premier popular sports weekly magazine Sports Illustrated, which reported on the Women's World Cup final between the U.S. and Japan. Expecting to see triumphant Japanese players, I was surprised to instead see a doleful-looking American player. But wait, why should I be surprised at this: look at how obsessively nationalistic our media is about the Olympics. No matter what was happening and who was actually winning the events, the coverage was all about the Americans.
I am trying to get inside the mind of the editor of Sports Illustrated and determine the decision-making process for the cover. That the World Cup was THE event to picture for this particular issue was self-evident. If I had been the editor, I would have beforehand told my staff to run the best picture epitomizing the winning team, making it as emotionally compelling as possible. Instead, the editor apparently directed the staff to show the American side only, win-or-lose, with that emotionally-compelling angle reserved for them alone.
Whatever happened to sportsmanship, when the losing side would congratulate the champs and then discretely step into the background and accord the winners their moment of glory? Besides, I remember how people a couple of years ago were falling all over themselves about how great it was for the disaster-stricken city of New Orleans that their Saints won the Super Bowl. Why can't this feeling be transferred across our national borders to our friends in Japan, which has certainly suffered (and is continuing to suffer) its undue share of calamity and heartbreak?
I was glancing at the cover of our premier popular sports weekly magazine Sports Illustrated, which reported on the Women's World Cup final between the U.S. and Japan. Expecting to see triumphant Japanese players, I was surprised to instead see a doleful-looking American player. But wait, why should I be surprised at this: look at how obsessively nationalistic our media is about the Olympics. No matter what was happening and who was actually winning the events, the coverage was all about the Americans.
I am trying to get inside the mind of the editor of Sports Illustrated and determine the decision-making process for the cover. That the World Cup was THE event to picture for this particular issue was self-evident. If I had been the editor, I would have beforehand told my staff to run the best picture epitomizing the winning team, making it as emotionally compelling as possible. Instead, the editor apparently directed the staff to show the American side only, win-or-lose, with that emotionally-compelling angle reserved for them alone.
Whatever happened to sportsmanship, when the losing side would congratulate the champs and then discretely step into the background and accord the winners their moment of glory? Besides, I remember how people a couple of years ago were falling all over themselves about how great it was for the disaster-stricken city of New Orleans that their Saints won the Super Bowl. Why can't this feeling be transferred across our national borders to our friends in Japan, which has certainly suffered (and is continuing to suffer) its undue share of calamity and heartbreak?
Friday, July 22, 2011
Hot Florida Cooler Than Up North
I was running late this morning around my neighborhood in the summer heat and humidity, intending to complete my "standard" 7.18 mile course. I had to cut it short at 5.69 miles because, although the TV local weather channel had the temperature and humidity at manageable 87-degree, 67% levels, it seemed much, much more humid, closer to 80%. Well, I thought, that's Florida in the summer: I guess I got what I deserved deciding to continue living here. And then I turned on the news.
The reigning news story at the moment is the extreme heat wave crisis affecting much of the country NORTH of me. It is hitting the New York City area especially hard, with their power grid being taxed to the breaking point due to the high demand for air conditioning. And for those who decide to go to the beach and get in the water to cool off? Forget it: warnings are out there now about the presence of waste in the offshore water.
No, knowing how bad it is elsewhere still doesn't make it pleasant here. But I've seen this sort of phenomenon before, when excruciating conditions would affect places known more for their cooler conditions. What makes Florida an attractive place over others, though, is its wintertime weather conditions.
During the winter, it can get pretty cold here at times. But it is almost always a DRY cold, without the annoying and dangerous sleet and snowstorms that my friends living further up north (and hopefully not baking in the current heat) have to contend with. Still, there is that other place...
I have checked out the Pacific coastal northwest and have concluded that this is the ideal weather place to live. Never too hot, never too cold. Yes, Coos Bay in southwestern coastal Oregon, where track legend Steve Prefontaine grew up and went to school, sounds like the perfect spot. Well, maybe until that future offshore earthquake sends a tsunami ashore and wipes the town off the map!
...Maybe I should instead just "count my blessings" and appreciate the good things about northern Florida while realizing that every place has its down-side.
The reigning news story at the moment is the extreme heat wave crisis affecting much of the country NORTH of me. It is hitting the New York City area especially hard, with their power grid being taxed to the breaking point due to the high demand for air conditioning. And for those who decide to go to the beach and get in the water to cool off? Forget it: warnings are out there now about the presence of waste in the offshore water.
No, knowing how bad it is elsewhere still doesn't make it pleasant here. But I've seen this sort of phenomenon before, when excruciating conditions would affect places known more for their cooler conditions. What makes Florida an attractive place over others, though, is its wintertime weather conditions.
During the winter, it can get pretty cold here at times. But it is almost always a DRY cold, without the annoying and dangerous sleet and snowstorms that my friends living further up north (and hopefully not baking in the current heat) have to contend with. Still, there is that other place...
I have checked out the Pacific coastal northwest and have concluded that this is the ideal weather place to live. Never too hot, never too cold. Yes, Coos Bay in southwestern coastal Oregon, where track legend Steve Prefontaine grew up and went to school, sounds like the perfect spot. Well, maybe until that future offshore earthquake sends a tsunami ashore and wipes the town off the map!
...Maybe I should instead just "count my blessings" and appreciate the good things about northern Florida while realizing that every place has its down-side.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Lexington Trip Upcoming
A few days into August I will be traveling with my family to Lexington, Kentucky to visit relatives on Melissa's side of the family. She has gone there three times so far while I have been there just once (and briefly at that). We plan to drive our Toyota Sienna minivan on the Interstate there, which means that we will be going the length of Georgia (passing through Atlanta) and then crossing eastern Tennessee (and Knoxville) before finishing in eastern Kentucky. I look forward to both the ride and the stay. During our visit we will be staying at a Lexington hotel, one with a swimming pool that I plan to put to great use practicing my swimming form. I haven't figured out which places in the area I want to explore, but of course the University of Kentucky is a big attraction. I'll have to visit my local AAA office to pick up some brochures as well as explore the Internet. Maybe I can find some blogs about Lexington and vicinity!
Unlike our New York City visit last year, this trip we will be spending some time with relatives. That's cool: family matters, not just sightseeing! But I'd like to balance the two just the same...
I am in no way a travel addict like some others I know who are pretty jaded about hopping on a plane to go just about anywhere (and seem to have an endless source of money to fund their trips). For one, just getting in the car and driving ANYWHERE out of town is something of an event for me. So a trip to a relatively distant location (for me) is pretty major. Still, were it not for the extended family living there, I seriously doubt that I would even be remotely interested in singling out Lexington for a visit!
Not that I am trying to insult the good city and people of Lexington, Kentucky. After all, I can't understand why anyone would ever want to visit my home city of Gainesville, Florida unless there were a special event (like a football game or concert) or friends and/or relatives lived here. But perhaps I should just make an effort to see what kind of fun I can have in this university town to the north! Who knows, I may be pleasantly surprised. And I also may be able to crank out a few blog articles about my visit as well!
Unlike our New York City visit last year, this trip we will be spending some time with relatives. That's cool: family matters, not just sightseeing! But I'd like to balance the two just the same...
I am in no way a travel addict like some others I know who are pretty jaded about hopping on a plane to go just about anywhere (and seem to have an endless source of money to fund their trips). For one, just getting in the car and driving ANYWHERE out of town is something of an event for me. So a trip to a relatively distant location (for me) is pretty major. Still, were it not for the extended family living there, I seriously doubt that I would even be remotely interested in singling out Lexington for a visit!
Not that I am trying to insult the good city and people of Lexington, Kentucky. After all, I can't understand why anyone would ever want to visit my home city of Gainesville, Florida unless there were a special event (like a football game or concert) or friends and/or relatives lived here. But perhaps I should just make an effort to see what kind of fun I can have in this university town to the north! Who knows, I may be pleasantly surprised. And I also may be able to crank out a few blog articles about my visit as well!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
My New Running Training Regimen
As part of my never-ending struggle to find some kind of effective-but-survivable running training regimen during the hot and humid north Florida summer months, I have hit upon a new strategy that shows some promise of success after four days. It came about after I had run for five consecutive days last week and was beginning to feel some knee pain again.
Being concerned about being sidelined from running again for weeks due to injury, I decided to lay off any activity for a couple of days. Then, Sunday afternoon I went to my YMCA's workout room and used their elliptical cross-trainer machine for 44 minutes. Only I began to do it differently this time: instead of using the handles that I could swing back and forth with my arms, I held on to the stationary handles and made my legs completely power the exercise. It was a more intense workout and closely resembled running in many ways. It also worked out supporting leg muscles not normally used much during running, which should help to forestall future injuries. And of course, the elliptical cross-trainer is a "non-impact" workout, with no jarring of joints that running produces.
So then I decided to alternate elliptical workouts with outdoor running workouts. Monday I ran my neighborhood course of 7.18 miles relatively quickly with no pain. Tuesday I was back on the elliptical for 46 minutes. And this morning I ran my 7.18 course even faster, with the temperature being 85-89 degrees.
So now I get a daily intensive workout to my legs but also get a break on alternate days from both the summer heat and the pounding that running produces on them. I wonder whether this will be "the way" to get through the summer with my running from now on!
Notice that I didn't mention anything about swimming. I simply don't have the confidence that I will have space to swim in at my YMCA pool when I get there. But the water at my YMCA's pool sure does look inviting when I am in the workout room, facing it...
Being concerned about being sidelined from running again for weeks due to injury, I decided to lay off any activity for a couple of days. Then, Sunday afternoon I went to my YMCA's workout room and used their elliptical cross-trainer machine for 44 minutes. Only I began to do it differently this time: instead of using the handles that I could swing back and forth with my arms, I held on to the stationary handles and made my legs completely power the exercise. It was a more intense workout and closely resembled running in many ways. It also worked out supporting leg muscles not normally used much during running, which should help to forestall future injuries. And of course, the elliptical cross-trainer is a "non-impact" workout, with no jarring of joints that running produces.
So then I decided to alternate elliptical workouts with outdoor running workouts. Monday I ran my neighborhood course of 7.18 miles relatively quickly with no pain. Tuesday I was back on the elliptical for 46 minutes. And this morning I ran my 7.18 course even faster, with the temperature being 85-89 degrees.
So now I get a daily intensive workout to my legs but also get a break on alternate days from both the summer heat and the pounding that running produces on them. I wonder whether this will be "the way" to get through the summer with my running from now on!
Notice that I didn't mention anything about swimming. I simply don't have the confidence that I will have space to swim in at my YMCA pool when I get there. But the water at my YMCA's pool sure does look inviting when I am in the workout room, facing it...
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Deathly Hallows Part 2: My Reaction
Yesterday afternoon I saw the final (I think) Harry Potter movie The Deathly Hallows Part 2. Already knowing how it would essentially turn out, I was interested in seeing the cinematic presentation as well as how the movie diverged from the book.
For the most part, the movie dovetailed quite well with the written account, although there were a few "forks" taken. And I understand why these happened: it was much the same way that those making Lord of the Rings into film changed the plot progression around to draw the main characters together in climactic scenes and to achieve the greatest dramatic effect. The Rings filmmakers changed Tolkien's written story way too much, though, but the Potter folks were much better at staying true to Rowling's writing. So I'm not at all unhappy with the movie.
Alan Rickman was very, very impressive with his final role as Severus Snape, the former Dark Arts professor who always seemed to have it in for Harry. In The Deathly Hallows he has been installed by the archvillain Voldemort to be the Hogwarts School of Wizardry's headmaster, succeeding beloved Albus Dumbledore. But as author J.K. Rowling has shown a penchant for in her writing, not all is as it seems. And this final installment shows both Snape and Dumbledore to be much more complex (and therefore real) than they had been painted to be. And I liked that.
I recommend the movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, but only to those who have kept up with the story. If you haven't, you would be completely lost in the middle of the fast-paced action and would miss out on the significance of many background, transient events that would be meaningful only for those "in the know".
Now it's on to the other movie: Winnie the Pooh. I don't know how many people want to accompany me to see this one, though...
For the most part, the movie dovetailed quite well with the written account, although there were a few "forks" taken. And I understand why these happened: it was much the same way that those making Lord of the Rings into film changed the plot progression around to draw the main characters together in climactic scenes and to achieve the greatest dramatic effect. The Rings filmmakers changed Tolkien's written story way too much, though, but the Potter folks were much better at staying true to Rowling's writing. So I'm not at all unhappy with the movie.
Alan Rickman was very, very impressive with his final role as Severus Snape, the former Dark Arts professor who always seemed to have it in for Harry. In The Deathly Hallows he has been installed by the archvillain Voldemort to be the Hogwarts School of Wizardry's headmaster, succeeding beloved Albus Dumbledore. But as author J.K. Rowling has shown a penchant for in her writing, not all is as it seems. And this final installment shows both Snape and Dumbledore to be much more complex (and therefore real) than they had been painted to be. And I liked that.
I recommend the movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, but only to those who have kept up with the story. If you haven't, you would be completely lost in the middle of the fast-paced action and would miss out on the significance of many background, transient events that would be meaningful only for those "in the know".
Now it's on to the other movie: Winnie the Pooh. I don't know how many people want to accompany me to see this one, though...
Monday, July 18, 2011
Hey, NFL and NBA: Go Cancel Yourselves!
It looks as if major professional sports in America has become so financially successful, so engorged on money, that it has collectively decided to implode on itself. The National Football League appears to be headed straight toward the cancellation of the 2011 season because of unrestrained greed on the part of both management and labor. And the National Basketball Association appears willing and ready to follow suit with a lockout already in place heralding its own impending season cancellation a few months later. NBA stars are already signing up to play for different countries' teams overseas in anticipation of this. The football players might have liked to be able to do the same, but...well, they just don't PLAY American football overseas!
I can see how no pro pigskins or hoops might bother a lot of people, and not just those who like to gamble on sports or play the fantasy versions. The franchises whose teams won't be playing won't also be paying supporting workers. Neither will those working in the stadiums and arenas have their usual seasonal employment. And surrounding local businesses will suffer greatly as well, especially the hotel and restaurant industry. But me, well...
I like to watch pro football and basketball if it happens to be on TV and I have nothing else to do. But I don't spend very much time or effort thinking about these sports on other days of the week. Besides, I'll still have college football and basketball to focus on should I suddenly feel a spectator sports obsession overtake me. As for those who are obsessed with following the pro leagues, they probably need to "get a life" anyway, an opportunity that the impending season cancellations just might provide for them.
No, I'm quite all right with there being no NFL or NBA seasons this year. Or next year. Or the following year. Etcetera. Hey, NFL and NBA: cancel yourselves forever, see if I care!
I can see how no pro pigskins or hoops might bother a lot of people, and not just those who like to gamble on sports or play the fantasy versions. The franchises whose teams won't be playing won't also be paying supporting workers. Neither will those working in the stadiums and arenas have their usual seasonal employment. And surrounding local businesses will suffer greatly as well, especially the hotel and restaurant industry. But me, well...
I like to watch pro football and basketball if it happens to be on TV and I have nothing else to do. But I don't spend very much time or effort thinking about these sports on other days of the week. Besides, I'll still have college football and basketball to focus on should I suddenly feel a spectator sports obsession overtake me. As for those who are obsessed with following the pro leagues, they probably need to "get a life" anyway, an opportunity that the impending season cancellations just might provide for them.
No, I'm quite all right with there being no NFL or NBA seasons this year. Or next year. Or the following year. Etcetera. Hey, NFL and NBA: cancel yourselves forever, see if I care!
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Medical Common Sense and Professional Pretense
A couple of times a week I go down to one of my favorite Chinese eateries in Gainesville (usually either China 88 on NW 16th Boulevard or First Wok on SW 34th Street near my workplace) and enjoy a small bowl of their excellent hot and sour soup. Each restaurant has a small counter in the dining area on which they provide free reading material for the customers. One of these publications that they both display, slanted heavily toward new age beliefs, is titled Natural Awakenings.
The other day I was swilling my soup and looking through Natural Awakenings when I came across an article giving what looked like authoritative medical information about how disturbances in one part of the body can cause health problems affecting other parts or the body as a whole. Seeing how I already knew this (doesn't pretty much everyone?), I was still interested in the topic. I know how a localized infection can cause widespread inflammatory and even flu-like symptoms from an almost-devastating illness I incurred at the very end of 1979 that was caused by a simple skin infection. So I wanted to check out what this piece had to say about the topic.
The article was titled "Blocks to Healing: The Problem of the Chronic Dominant Focus/Foci". Huh, say that again? ...and then I realized that I was about to be treated to something I have recognized in other areas: someone has either invented or adopted a different set of vocabulary to designate concepts that could be explained more simply. To further confirm this tendency for complexity on the author's part, I glanced at his name:
Dr. Michael Badanek, DC, BS, CNS, DABCN, DM(P), NMD, MD, MD(MA), MD(h)
I mean, this is obviously one completely together, cool dude: not only is he a lot of unfathomable things of which the letters give scant clues, but he is also an MD, plus extra MD's with parenthetical MA's and h's! Wow, an "unlettered", ordinary layman like me had better swallow everything he writes uncritically because of the alphabet soup trailing his name...
After hemming and hawing through the article discussing arcane concepts like "interference fields" and "dominant focus", the lettered author finally gets to the point in the article's final, relatively small paragraph: those suffering from undiagnosed chronic conditions should seek a qualified health care professional for evaluation and treatment.
Why couldn't he have said that to begin with and leave out the gobbledegook? Then again, why couldn't anyone say that without trying to impress the reader with their professional titles? I mean, isn't this just simple common sense?
However, perhaps I'm being a little unfair to the DC-BS-CNS-DABCN-DM(P)-NMD-MD-MD(MA)-MD(p). He did point to some specific areas in the body that he believed could be responsible for generalized malaise: appendix scars, root canals, sinuses, and the prostrate were given as possible "root" causes. Maybe, armed with these possibilities, someone who feels chronically bad can go to their doctor, (or DC, BS, CNS, ...) armed with a shopping list of possible causes, and tell that health care provider to "find it"! But this sounds unpractical in today's health care insurance environment, when it is still sometimes very difficult to get insurance companies to even cover medically-necessary diagnostic testing based on very specific symptoms. What the author is proposing amounts to more or less a potentially very expensive fishing expedition throughout the body by the medical profession for some small "disturbance", be it an infection, scar, or something else. Maybe as diagnostic technology becomes more advanced, this might become more feasible and affordable. But not as things stand right now!
The other day I was swilling my soup and looking through Natural Awakenings when I came across an article giving what looked like authoritative medical information about how disturbances in one part of the body can cause health problems affecting other parts or the body as a whole. Seeing how I already knew this (doesn't pretty much everyone?), I was still interested in the topic. I know how a localized infection can cause widespread inflammatory and even flu-like symptoms from an almost-devastating illness I incurred at the very end of 1979 that was caused by a simple skin infection. So I wanted to check out what this piece had to say about the topic.
The article was titled "Blocks to Healing: The Problem of the Chronic Dominant Focus/Foci". Huh, say that again? ...and then I realized that I was about to be treated to something I have recognized in other areas: someone has either invented or adopted a different set of vocabulary to designate concepts that could be explained more simply. To further confirm this tendency for complexity on the author's part, I glanced at his name:
Dr. Michael Badanek, DC, BS, CNS, DABCN, DM(P), NMD, MD, MD(MA), MD(h)
I mean, this is obviously one completely together, cool dude: not only is he a lot of unfathomable things of which the letters give scant clues, but he is also an MD, plus extra MD's with parenthetical MA's and h's! Wow, an "unlettered", ordinary layman like me had better swallow everything he writes uncritically because of the alphabet soup trailing his name...
After hemming and hawing through the article discussing arcane concepts like "interference fields" and "dominant focus", the lettered author finally gets to the point in the article's final, relatively small paragraph: those suffering from undiagnosed chronic conditions should seek a qualified health care professional for evaluation and treatment.
Why couldn't he have said that to begin with and leave out the gobbledegook? Then again, why couldn't anyone say that without trying to impress the reader with their professional titles? I mean, isn't this just simple common sense?
However, perhaps I'm being a little unfair to the DC-BS-CNS-DABCN-DM(P)-NMD-MD-MD(MA)-MD(p). He did point to some specific areas in the body that he believed could be responsible for generalized malaise: appendix scars, root canals, sinuses, and the prostrate were given as possible "root" causes. Maybe, armed with these possibilities, someone who feels chronically bad can go to their doctor, (or DC, BS, CNS, ...) armed with a shopping list of possible causes, and tell that health care provider to "find it"! But this sounds unpractical in today's health care insurance environment, when it is still sometimes very difficult to get insurance companies to even cover medically-necessary diagnostic testing based on very specific symptoms. What the author is proposing amounts to more or less a potentially very expensive fishing expedition throughout the body by the medical profession for some small "disturbance", be it an infection, scar, or something else. Maybe as diagnostic technology becomes more advanced, this might become more feasible and affordable. But not as things stand right now!
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Eleven Eleven
I think we've all had a little fun with numbers since the commencement of the new millennium. Every year there is a special date that runs the same across the board: 01/01/01, 02/02/02, and so on. Yippee, looks like I might make it all the way to 11/11/11! And then it will be 12/12/12 the following year. Subsequent fun will depend on adding extra months to 2013 and beyond. After 2030 or 2031 (depending on how long the extra months are), days would have to be added to the months to continue the merriment.
But back to "eleven eleven"...
The combination of the numbers 11 & 11 seems to have taken on some kind of mystical, superstitious importance over the past few years. George Noory, the conspiracist believe-anything-that's-loony talk radio host of late night's Coast-to-Coast AM, has repeatedly hammered home his experiences of impulsively looking at clocks when it is 11:11, as if this carried some kind of supernatural or paranormal significance. As for me, this phenomenon happens a lot, too. But truth but told, I never noticed it until I had heard Noory and others refer to it. Then my mind programmed itself to respond at the appropriate moment, in the same way that I have an uncanny ability, after sleeping for hours, to suddenly jump out of bed wide awake seconds before my wake-up alarm goes off. So there's nothing unusual about this for me. And since others are human like me and share similar physiologies, they probably also have allowed themselves to be conditioned by others to look out for this time of day, at least subconsciously. Nothing mysterious or supernatural about that...
But this apparently won't stop some from trying to capitalize on 11-11, or I should say, 11/11/11. A group calling itself "One Breath One World" is staging on that date, apparently in Orlando, a stadium event grouping together 20,000 like-minded believers in this kind of numerology to try to create a miracle, for the sake of the planet, world peace, enlightenment, and all of those other cozy-sounding new age ideals. And how are they to accomplish this? At the signal, everyone is to breathe in unison! And that will change everything. But first, these miracle workers need to get online and purchase their tickets...
I'm not sure this won't possibly come back to bite these gullible do-gooders in the ass, though. I remember a science fiction short story by Orson Scott Card titled Deep Breathing Exercises. The premise expressed in this interesting tale was that, when people were grouped together in a setting in which they were about to collectively perish due to a calamity, they inexplicably began inhaling and exhaling in total unison. So maybe if you're of the gullible type who believes, as George Noory claims to believe, that there are no such things as coincidences, then you just might consider NOT hanging around Orlando on "miracle day" 11/11/11!
I don't believe in either scenario. But if people are looking for miracles, they need to look within themselves and recognize their amazing human capacity for change. These 20,000 will already be interested in miraculous change: now if they can only see that, by taking each day they live and treating the people they encounter with more compassion and respect than they did the previous day, there is the possibility of a miracle of sorts coming about after all. For human behavior is infectious: others copy successful models of behavior that they observe and internalize them to become a new part of their own personalities. A truly "kinder, gentler" society (without the political overtones) would be a miracle, and one accomplished without the need for pretense about supernatural forces causing it.
And without the need to buy a ticket!
But back to "eleven eleven"...
The combination of the numbers 11 & 11 seems to have taken on some kind of mystical, superstitious importance over the past few years. George Noory, the conspiracist believe-anything-that's-loony talk radio host of late night's Coast-to-Coast AM, has repeatedly hammered home his experiences of impulsively looking at clocks when it is 11:11, as if this carried some kind of supernatural or paranormal significance. As for me, this phenomenon happens a lot, too. But truth but told, I never noticed it until I had heard Noory and others refer to it. Then my mind programmed itself to respond at the appropriate moment, in the same way that I have an uncanny ability, after sleeping for hours, to suddenly jump out of bed wide awake seconds before my wake-up alarm goes off. So there's nothing unusual about this for me. And since others are human like me and share similar physiologies, they probably also have allowed themselves to be conditioned by others to look out for this time of day, at least subconsciously. Nothing mysterious or supernatural about that...
But this apparently won't stop some from trying to capitalize on 11-11, or I should say, 11/11/11. A group calling itself "One Breath One World" is staging on that date, apparently in Orlando, a stadium event grouping together 20,000 like-minded believers in this kind of numerology to try to create a miracle, for the sake of the planet, world peace, enlightenment, and all of those other cozy-sounding new age ideals. And how are they to accomplish this? At the signal, everyone is to breathe in unison! And that will change everything. But first, these miracle workers need to get online and purchase their tickets...
I'm not sure this won't possibly come back to bite these gullible do-gooders in the ass, though. I remember a science fiction short story by Orson Scott Card titled Deep Breathing Exercises. The premise expressed in this interesting tale was that, when people were grouped together in a setting in which they were about to collectively perish due to a calamity, they inexplicably began inhaling and exhaling in total unison. So maybe if you're of the gullible type who believes, as George Noory claims to believe, that there are no such things as coincidences, then you just might consider NOT hanging around Orlando on "miracle day" 11/11/11!
I don't believe in either scenario. But if people are looking for miracles, they need to look within themselves and recognize their amazing human capacity for change. These 20,000 will already be interested in miraculous change: now if they can only see that, by taking each day they live and treating the people they encounter with more compassion and respect than they did the previous day, there is the possibility of a miracle of sorts coming about after all. For human behavior is infectious: others copy successful models of behavior that they observe and internalize them to become a new part of their own personalities. A truly "kinder, gentler" society (without the political overtones) would be a miracle, and one accomplished without the need for pretense about supernatural forces causing it.
And without the need to buy a ticket!
Friday, July 15, 2011
Long-Awaited Fantasy Film Released Today
Well, today is the long-anticipated cinematic opening release of a movie that I am truly looking forward to seeing. A movie based on a very popular book series with unforgettable, compelling characters and a strong appeal to the imagination. Of course the movie I'm referring to is nothing other than... Winnie the Pooh!
With all due respects to the hairy pottery-maker, I have come to miss the great Disney cartoon animated version of A.A. Milne's classic Winnie the Pooh, including both the feature films and the television series. The other "Pooh programs" that Disney has put out, in my opinion, have been cheap imitations (although the classic cartoons were themselves a bit divergent from Milne's books).
From what I've read about this new movie, the stories were derived from Milne's original tales. That's good, because frankly some of the last few movies they made, which were original stories, were a bit too sappy and maudlin for me. Let's get back to the fun stuff!
And oh yeah, I'm also interested in Harry and Hermione and Ron and Severus and so on. But I read the final book in the Potter series long ago and know what's going to happen. The only mysteries left are how the movie will present the last half of The Deathly Hallows, which scenes they will add, and which scenes from the book they will omit (probably to my great consternation). And I am especially curious as to whether they include the book's epilogue at the movie's end (and how they present it if they do).
It sure would be nice for Disney or some other channel to air those great old Winnie the Pooh half-hour episodes again, at least for a little while. They have a subtly humorous aspect to a lot of their stories that can resonate with adults, and the characters are great archetypes of general human personalities. As for Harry Potter, it seems that I can hardly turn on my TV anymore and surf through the channels without spotting one of the movies.
I plan to go watch both of these escapist fantasy flicks. Hopefully the new Pooh movie will return to the spirit and mood of the TV series and the first two movies...
With all due respects to the hairy pottery-maker, I have come to miss the great Disney cartoon animated version of A.A. Milne's classic Winnie the Pooh, including both the feature films and the television series. The other "Pooh programs" that Disney has put out, in my opinion, have been cheap imitations (although the classic cartoons were themselves a bit divergent from Milne's books).
From what I've read about this new movie, the stories were derived from Milne's original tales. That's good, because frankly some of the last few movies they made, which were original stories, were a bit too sappy and maudlin for me. Let's get back to the fun stuff!
And oh yeah, I'm also interested in Harry and Hermione and Ron and Severus and so on. But I read the final book in the Potter series long ago and know what's going to happen. The only mysteries left are how the movie will present the last half of The Deathly Hallows, which scenes they will add, and which scenes from the book they will omit (probably to my great consternation). And I am especially curious as to whether they include the book's epilogue at the movie's end (and how they present it if they do).
It sure would be nice for Disney or some other channel to air those great old Winnie the Pooh half-hour episodes again, at least for a little while. They have a subtly humorous aspect to a lot of their stories that can resonate with adults, and the characters are great archetypes of general human personalities. As for Harry Potter, it seems that I can hardly turn on my TV anymore and surf through the channels without spotting one of the movies.
I plan to go watch both of these escapist fantasy flicks. Hopefully the new Pooh movie will return to the spirit and mood of the TV series and the first two movies...
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Debt Ceiling Crisis
I have been following the standoff going on in our national government regarding the debt ceiling crisis with increasing dismay. It looks like a completely unnecessary disaster in the making, with one side, President Obama and the Democrats, stepping up to the table willing to make compromises for the better good of the nation, while the Republicans on the other side are playing petty politics, sucking up to extremists in the right-wing talk show media, and refusing to budge on anything.
Yes, we have a problem with our national debt. When Democratic president Bill Clinton left office in January 2001 we had reached a point, though, when we were working on reducing it by having a string of annual surpluses. Then Republican George W. Bush stepped into the office and immediately began preaching that the government was holding the [rich] people's money and that they could do better things with it. And so began the shortfall of our revenue necessary to fund the government and keep it from having to borrow money from abroad to stay afloat. The 9/11 terrorist attacks, enhanced nationwide security efforts, and our subsequent incursion into Afghanistan to weed out Al-Qaeda and drive out their Taliban sponsors from power understandably involved increased spending and a higher deficit. But Bush's inexplicable decision to invade Iraq in 2003 and stage a massive military occupation for years hence broke the budget, with nary a Republican cry of protest. In fact, they voted en masse, including folks like congressional leaders Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, to lift the debt ceiling 19 times during Bush's two terms in office. But the moment a Democrat stepped in, even in the midst of an economic calamity unseen since the Great Depression, those same Republicans suddenly became budget hawks, treating federal spending as anathema now that it was largely in the hands of the hated Democrats.
I don't know how this crisis will play itself out or who will gain politically from it. Common sense would have told me that the contrived tea party crap that has been going on for the last couple of years would have fallen flat and that the Republicans would have been punished, not rewarded, at the polls for their intransigence in opposing practically everything that President Obama was trying to do for the country. In fact, several of their prominent members, including Senator McConnell, had publicly stated that their primary goal was to make our president a failure! And yet my fellow citizens, in their infinite foolishness, collectively gave those Republicans control of the U.S. House of Representatives, a net gain of six Senate seats, and a net gain of several state governorships (and, very sadly, a teabagger as governor in my home state of Florida).
So I can't control how other people will react to what's going on. But it sure would be nice for the politicians to stop acting like marionette puppets and begin to work for the interests of the people they were elected to serve. And that means ALL the people!
Yes, we have a problem with our national debt. When Democratic president Bill Clinton left office in January 2001 we had reached a point, though, when we were working on reducing it by having a string of annual surpluses. Then Republican George W. Bush stepped into the office and immediately began preaching that the government was holding the [rich] people's money and that they could do better things with it. And so began the shortfall of our revenue necessary to fund the government and keep it from having to borrow money from abroad to stay afloat. The 9/11 terrorist attacks, enhanced nationwide security efforts, and our subsequent incursion into Afghanistan to weed out Al-Qaeda and drive out their Taliban sponsors from power understandably involved increased spending and a higher deficit. But Bush's inexplicable decision to invade Iraq in 2003 and stage a massive military occupation for years hence broke the budget, with nary a Republican cry of protest. In fact, they voted en masse, including folks like congressional leaders Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, to lift the debt ceiling 19 times during Bush's two terms in office. But the moment a Democrat stepped in, even in the midst of an economic calamity unseen since the Great Depression, those same Republicans suddenly became budget hawks, treating federal spending as anathema now that it was largely in the hands of the hated Democrats.
I don't know how this crisis will play itself out or who will gain politically from it. Common sense would have told me that the contrived tea party crap that has been going on for the last couple of years would have fallen flat and that the Republicans would have been punished, not rewarded, at the polls for their intransigence in opposing practically everything that President Obama was trying to do for the country. In fact, several of their prominent members, including Senator McConnell, had publicly stated that their primary goal was to make our president a failure! And yet my fellow citizens, in their infinite foolishness, collectively gave those Republicans control of the U.S. House of Representatives, a net gain of six Senate seats, and a net gain of several state governorships (and, very sadly, a teabagger as governor in my home state of Florida).
So I can't control how other people will react to what's going on. But it sure would be nice for the politicians to stop acting like marionette puppets and begin to work for the interests of the people they were elected to serve. And that means ALL the people!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Comparing My Blog to Others is Pointless
When connecting to a blog that is part of the Blogger network, the user can hit a tab at the screentop titled "Next Blog" and view other blogs, usually grouped with a similar theme (I keep coming up with running and biking blogs). I do this from time to time and invariably come away from the experience with an embarrassing sense of my own blog's inferiority to most others. But...
I know that this self-judgement is really unduly harsh and that I should lighten up a bit on myself. This blog of mine is well-defined and deliberately limited. I'm not going for a dazzling visual display. I am not trying to promote what a cool dude I am or what an extravagant, exciting life I'm leading (which is good, because neither applies to me). Nor am I hawking my professional expertise in an effort to attract business and income (in fact, for discretion's sake I deliberately tend to shield my professional life from this blog). And I am not blogging in connection with any particular interests in order to increase my standing among others sharing those same interests. As a matter of fact, if anything, my relative lack of expertise about anything I discuss here should make others feel pretty good about their own expertise by comparison!
And comparison is really what this is all about. What I need to do instead is keep myself focused on my primary purpose here, which is to use this blog as a personal writing discipline. I don't need a lot of people patting me on my back, but a little interaction in the form of comments (including anonymous comments) is always welcome and appreciated!
Not that there won't be times when I get a little technical and write about topics that are of a more esoteric nature. But generally speaking, my format here is intended to more closely resemble what regular newspaper columnists do: pick a topic and expound on it to a reasonable extent in a way that is easy to read and understand, agree or disagree with the message. And like newspapers, which feature columns of different types (political, sports, "living", humor, entertainment), my articles try to capture the same sense of expression. I hope at least some of that intended expression reaches you, my valued reader!
I know that this self-judgement is really unduly harsh and that I should lighten up a bit on myself. This blog of mine is well-defined and deliberately limited. I'm not going for a dazzling visual display. I am not trying to promote what a cool dude I am or what an extravagant, exciting life I'm leading (which is good, because neither applies to me). Nor am I hawking my professional expertise in an effort to attract business and income (in fact, for discretion's sake I deliberately tend to shield my professional life from this blog). And I am not blogging in connection with any particular interests in order to increase my standing among others sharing those same interests. As a matter of fact, if anything, my relative lack of expertise about anything I discuss here should make others feel pretty good about their own expertise by comparison!
And comparison is really what this is all about. What I need to do instead is keep myself focused on my primary purpose here, which is to use this blog as a personal writing discipline. I don't need a lot of people patting me on my back, but a little interaction in the form of comments (including anonymous comments) is always welcome and appreciated!
Not that there won't be times when I get a little technical and write about topics that are of a more esoteric nature. But generally speaking, my format here is intended to more closely resemble what regular newspaper columnists do: pick a topic and expound on it to a reasonable extent in a way that is easy to read and understand, agree or disagree with the message. And like newspapers, which feature columns of different types (political, sports, "living", humor, entertainment), my articles try to capture the same sense of expression. I hope at least some of that intended expression reaches you, my valued reader!
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
More on My Running Now, Then, and the Near Future
One important difference between this year and 2010 concerning my running is that, after that January 23 Ocala Marathon that I hobbled to the finish line in, I haven't entered any public races. Last year by this time I had run several races: LifeSouth Half Marathon, the Climb for Cancer 15K Run, and several 5Ks. I reached the point where I did not enjoy five kilometer (3.1 miles) races for various reasons. And longer races were few and far between. Besides, for much of the beginning of the year I was recovering from a leg injury and didn't want to aggravate it.
So now here I am in the middle of July, with no races set ahead of me to run. Sure, there's that Tom Walker Memorial Half-Marathon that is held in November and which I ran in last year (and enjoyed), but at least in the Gainesville vicinity there is nothing else longer than those annoying 5K races. I am thinking, though, about trying to get over to Apalachicola (Florida) and run in their half-marathon in late October. But I'll need to get the day before the race off from work to swing this, not yet a done deal.
I am still wary of running full marathons. Frankly, I don't see the extra benefit that running 26.2 miles carries over sticking with the 13.1 mile half-marathon distance. 13.1 miles is in itself quite a chore to carry out and requires a good deal of training. Besides, just about every marathon event I see out there has an accompanying half-marathon, usually with the same starting times (and less expensive entry fees). Also, there are several half-marathon races without accompanying marathons, that Tom Walker Memorial event a good example.
So maybe now that I seem to be injury-free, I might just sit down at my computer and check out the upcoming cooler months for opportunities to participate in half-marathons. Of course, money doesn't grow on trees (at least for me) and I probably won't be hopping on any planes soon for distant events. But any place in the southeastern U.S. holding a half-marathon should be fair game...as long as I can get time off from work, that is. And December, due to the nature of my job, is problematic in that although it has a great selection of races in my area, I am also very, very busy then at my job with slim prospects of getting extra time off.
So now here I am in the middle of July, with no races set ahead of me to run. Sure, there's that Tom Walker Memorial Half-Marathon that is held in November and which I ran in last year (and enjoyed), but at least in the Gainesville vicinity there is nothing else longer than those annoying 5K races. I am thinking, though, about trying to get over to Apalachicola (Florida) and run in their half-marathon in late October. But I'll need to get the day before the race off from work to swing this, not yet a done deal.
I am still wary of running full marathons. Frankly, I don't see the extra benefit that running 26.2 miles carries over sticking with the 13.1 mile half-marathon distance. 13.1 miles is in itself quite a chore to carry out and requires a good deal of training. Besides, just about every marathon event I see out there has an accompanying half-marathon, usually with the same starting times (and less expensive entry fees). Also, there are several half-marathon races without accompanying marathons, that Tom Walker Memorial event a good example.
So maybe now that I seem to be injury-free, I might just sit down at my computer and check out the upcoming cooler months for opportunities to participate in half-marathons. Of course, money doesn't grow on trees (at least for me) and I probably won't be hopping on any planes soon for distant events. But any place in the southeastern U.S. holding a half-marathon should be fair game...as long as I can get time off from work, that is. And December, due to the nature of my job, is problematic in that although it has a great selection of races in my area, I am also very, very busy then at my job with slim prospects of getting extra time off.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Comparing My Recent Running With 2010
I thought it might be interesting (to myself) to compare my running workouts during the "hot" months of May, June and July (up through today, the 11th). In May this year, I ran on 13 days of the month, totaling 94.61 miles with the longest run being 10.5 miles. Last May I ran on 15 days, totaling 82.64 miles, and enjoyed 8.44 miles as my longest run. In June 2011 I ran 13 days, totaled 87.13 miles, and had a long run of 9.0 miles. For June 2010 I ran on 14 days for 96.76 miles and had a peak run of 9.08 miles. And for July so far, I have run on 6 days (2010: 5), totaled 32.1 miles (2010: 40.64), and had a long run of 7.18 miles (2010: 8.53).
For the most part, I have been keeping up with last year's numbers, but I did slip some in June largely due to the record high temperatures and sometimes almost unbearable smoky haze due to neighboring wildfires. Still, I find myself feeling more sensitive to the summer heat and humidity this year than I did in 2010, often resorting to the air-conditioned setting of the treadmill.
Also, I have been training in my current running shoes for more than a year, and it's time to get a new pair. I like the Reebok brand and plan to go see if my local Sears has some similar to what I have been running in. I'm a little hesitant to try a different brand, since the last new running shoes I got hurt my foot and may have been a contributing factor to my leg injury earlier this year. But I can't keep running with the shoes I currently have: they're starting to fall apart on me!
Last year, I was more regular in my workouts, with a set strategy: set the distance I wanted to run, wait until late in the morning for the humidity to lower, even as the temperatures rise (sometimes into the 90's), and just run my course. I tell you, though, neither in 2010, 2011, or in any other year is it easy running here in north-central Florida in the often almost intolerable summer heat and humidity.
For the most part, I have been keeping up with last year's numbers, but I did slip some in June largely due to the record high temperatures and sometimes almost unbearable smoky haze due to neighboring wildfires. Still, I find myself feeling more sensitive to the summer heat and humidity this year than I did in 2010, often resorting to the air-conditioned setting of the treadmill.
Also, I have been training in my current running shoes for more than a year, and it's time to get a new pair. I like the Reebok brand and plan to go see if my local Sears has some similar to what I have been running in. I'm a little hesitant to try a different brand, since the last new running shoes I got hurt my foot and may have been a contributing factor to my leg injury earlier this year. But I can't keep running with the shoes I currently have: they're starting to fall apart on me!
Last year, I was more regular in my workouts, with a set strategy: set the distance I wanted to run, wait until late in the morning for the humidity to lower, even as the temperatures rise (sometimes into the 90's), and just run my course. I tell you, though, neither in 2010, 2011, or in any other year is it easy running here in north-central Florida in the often almost intolerable summer heat and humidity.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Make Soccer and Bowling More Interesting
This past Saturday afternoon in eastern Orlando, Melissa and I decided to have lunch at the Ruby Tuesday on University Drive. During our excellent meal, I noticed what was on the TV sets ringing the dining area: sports. Specifically, soccer and bowling. Ugh! I can't think of two more boring sports to have on TV.
Soccer was fun to play during physical education class at school, but only because the coach would back off and let the kids freely run around playing without getting hung up on positions and strategy. I think the different youth soccer leagues around nowadays are full of adults who are so full of themselves and soccer's intricacies that they spoil the fun of the sport for the children. But back to TV...
When I watch soccer highlights, all I see is scoring and excited celebrations. This is the complete opposite, though, of how actual games develop. For the most part, the two teams just keep kicking the ball back and forth, rarely even getting near the others' goals. Boring, boring, boring. Heck, it's getting now so that the game highlights themselves are so predictable with all the goals that even they have become boring. How can the game be changed to add some "pizazz"? One suggestion I have is what we did in elementary school soccer: add a second ball to the game, creating all kinds of chaotic possibilities!
Bowling for me is not only extremely boring to watch, but it is also boring to play! And what is it anyway with having to shell out the extra dough at bowling alleys for (smelly) bowling shoe rentals? Dammit, just get off my back and let me bowl in my regular shoes! But returning to this sport as it is seen on TV, I recently saw a bowling tournament being held in a large football stadium. Incredibly, there were actually people sitting up in the nosebleed sections watching it! I just don't get it: the tournament was still just as predictably boring as ever and holding it outdoors on a football field didn't change anything.
I also have a suggestion for "sexing up" bowling: instead of giving strikes the highest score, give bowlers the opportunity to make even bigger scores by setting up splits and then sparing them out. This would give the game an extra, more tactical dimension instead of the tedious repeating spectacle of bowlers just stepping up to the line and rolling the ball in excruciatingly predictable patterns.
Then again, while chomping away on my delicious lunch at Ruby Tuesday (crab cake with onion rings and macaroni & cheese), I came up with an instant sure-fire way to make the annoying soccer and bowling that was on more interesting: switch balls! Watch the soccer players try to kick a bowling ball around and watch the bowlers try to roll a soccer ball down the lane straight and long enough to knock down pins!
Soccer was fun to play during physical education class at school, but only because the coach would back off and let the kids freely run around playing without getting hung up on positions and strategy. I think the different youth soccer leagues around nowadays are full of adults who are so full of themselves and soccer's intricacies that they spoil the fun of the sport for the children. But back to TV...
When I watch soccer highlights, all I see is scoring and excited celebrations. This is the complete opposite, though, of how actual games develop. For the most part, the two teams just keep kicking the ball back and forth, rarely even getting near the others' goals. Boring, boring, boring. Heck, it's getting now so that the game highlights themselves are so predictable with all the goals that even they have become boring. How can the game be changed to add some "pizazz"? One suggestion I have is what we did in elementary school soccer: add a second ball to the game, creating all kinds of chaotic possibilities!
Bowling for me is not only extremely boring to watch, but it is also boring to play! And what is it anyway with having to shell out the extra dough at bowling alleys for (smelly) bowling shoe rentals? Dammit, just get off my back and let me bowl in my regular shoes! But returning to this sport as it is seen on TV, I recently saw a bowling tournament being held in a large football stadium. Incredibly, there were actually people sitting up in the nosebleed sections watching it! I just don't get it: the tournament was still just as predictably boring as ever and holding it outdoors on a football field didn't change anything.
I also have a suggestion for "sexing up" bowling: instead of giving strikes the highest score, give bowlers the opportunity to make even bigger scores by setting up splits and then sparing them out. This would give the game an extra, more tactical dimension instead of the tedious repeating spectacle of bowlers just stepping up to the line and rolling the ball in excruciatingly predictable patterns.
Then again, while chomping away on my delicious lunch at Ruby Tuesday (crab cake with onion rings and macaroni & cheese), I came up with an instant sure-fire way to make the annoying soccer and bowling that was on more interesting: switch balls! Watch the soccer players try to kick a bowling ball around and watch the bowlers try to roll a soccer ball down the lane straight and long enough to knock down pins!
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Rooftop Mystique
Today I went back to eastern Orlando with Melissa to help her with a graduate school class project of hers. This entailed us going to her school's main six-story building and making a video. While waiting to use the video room on the sixth floor there, I excused myself for a few minutes and went out into the empty hallway for a few minutes. I walked toward the end of the hall, where there were some tables, chairs, and a window presenting a nice view outside. On the way, though, I noticed a door marked "Stair Access to Roof". I turned the knob and it was unlocked. I picked up an eraser from a nearby whiteboard and used it to keep that door slightly ajar (having seen the movie Thank God It's Friday, I know how possible it is to get locked in stairwells...at least in movies, that is). Then I scurried up the last flight of stairs to the roof. To my surprise, the final door to the outside was unlocked, and I stepped through it. And, it felt, into another world.
Even though this building's roof was relatively clear and flat, I still somehow felt vulnerable being there. Not because I was doing anything illegal: there was nothing I could see prohibiting me from visiting up there. Rather, I was in a completely different type of environment, much more exposed to nature and the reality and hugeness of the surrounding earth and sky: the crest of a tall (for this area) building. I strode over to one of the edges, leaned over, and took a couple of pictures with my Blackberry. After a few minutes up there, I made my way back downstairs.
Walking around on the roof of a six-floor building shouldn't be that big of a deal, but it was for me. There is a kind of unexplainable mystique about it, perhaps akin to reaching the top of a mountain. I just remember it being almost dizzying standing there and wondered to myself how ridiculously excitable I can be at times from simple experiences!
Friday, July 8, 2011
List Madness: Arcade Fire Songs Ranked
In yet another installment of my continuing endeavor to list songs by artists according to my liking, I present my rankings of Arcade Fire's LP songs from top to bottom. Arcade Fire is an independent/alternative rock band that has captured much critical and popular acclaim for their their three albums Funeral (2004), Neon Bible (2007), and The Suburbs (2010). The Suburbs was so good that it won the best overall album award at the Grammys last year. Their music has an epic, grandiose, and urgent quality to it, with each individual song they do demanding the listener's undivided attention, as if the fate of the entire world hinged on its message. So yes, they're a bit on the dramatic side! There is also a good mix of male and female vocals on the songs, something I appreciate. Look them up on Wikipedia or their own site to find out more information about the members. Oh, one more thing: I like ALL of their songs, even my least favorite! (Note: they made an EP in 2003 titled Arcade Fire, but I'm not yet familiar with its songs.)
Here's my list, with the albums they belong to indicated by these abbreviations: Funeral [f], Neon Bible [nb], and The Suburbs [s].
1 Neon Bible [nb]
2 Rebellion (Lies) [f]
3 Windowsill [nb]
4 Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) [s]
5 Suburban War [s]
6 Black Mirror [nb]
7 Neighborhood 1 (Tunnels) [f]
8 We Used to Wait [s]
9 Neighborhood 3 (Power Out) [f]
10 Rococo [s]
11 Neighborhood 2 (Laika) [f]
12 Intervention [nb]
13 Modern Man [s]
14 The Suburbs [s]
15 Antichrist Television Blues [nb]
16 Wake Up [f]
17 City With No Children [s]
18 Black Wave/Bad Vibrations [nb]
19 No Cars Go [nb]
20 Empty Room [s]
21 Deep Blue [s]
22 Neighborhood 4 (7 Kettles) [f]
23 The Well and the Lighthouse [nb]
24 Haïti [f]
25 Half Light I [s]
26 Month of May [s]
27 Keep the Car Running [nb]
28 The Suburbs (Continued) [s]
29 Lenin [Dark Was the Night compilation]
30 Une Anneé Sans Lumière [f]
31 Ready to Start [s]
32 Half Light II (No Celebration) [s]
33 Ocean of Noise [nb]
34 Wasted Hours [s]
35 In the Backseat [f]
36 Sprawl I (Flatland) [s]
37 Crown of Love [f]
38 My Body is a Cage [nb]
Here's my list, with the albums they belong to indicated by these abbreviations: Funeral [f], Neon Bible [nb], and The Suburbs [s].
1 Neon Bible [nb]
2 Rebellion (Lies) [f]
3 Windowsill [nb]
4 Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) [s]
5 Suburban War [s]
6 Black Mirror [nb]
7 Neighborhood 1 (Tunnels) [f]
8 We Used to Wait [s]
9 Neighborhood 3 (Power Out) [f]
10 Rococo [s]
11 Neighborhood 2 (Laika) [f]
12 Intervention [nb]
13 Modern Man [s]
14 The Suburbs [s]
15 Antichrist Television Blues [nb]
16 Wake Up [f]
17 City With No Children [s]
18 Black Wave/Bad Vibrations [nb]
19 No Cars Go [nb]
20 Empty Room [s]
21 Deep Blue [s]
22 Neighborhood 4 (7 Kettles) [f]
23 The Well and the Lighthouse [nb]
24 Haïti [f]
25 Half Light I [s]
26 Month of May [s]
27 Keep the Car Running [nb]
28 The Suburbs (Continued) [s]
29 Lenin [Dark Was the Night compilation]
30 Une Anneé Sans Lumière [f]
31 Ready to Start [s]
32 Half Light II (No Celebration) [s]
33 Ocean of Noise [nb]
34 Wasted Hours [s]
35 In the Backseat [f]
36 Sprawl I (Flatland) [s]
37 Crown of Love [f]
38 My Body is a Cage [nb]
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Colmes Top Liberal Tweeter
Not being someone who has ever warmed up to Facebook, I recently began to reexamine my other "trendy" social Internet application: Twitter. And I discovered that Twitter is very fast-loading on my Blackberry, regardless of the general Internet conditions around me.
I decided to follow various political advocates, both liberal and conservative, on Twitter. On the liberal side, I had begun with Keith Olbermann but quickly realized that his use of it wasn't designed for the public in general. Bill Maher was good, although he was often promoting upcoming gigs of his and some of his jokes were way over the top. Michael Moore's was also interesting but definitely a little too hard-core left. But that's good; I need to know the spectrum of how people react to the news. Finally, I was engaging in one of my (very) rare viewings of The O'Reilly Factor on FoxRepublicanNews when lo and behold, there he was: Alan Colmes as the liberal in the forum that was going on. And he was pretty good, holding his own well against criticisms and succeeding in making his own points against the other side. He is quite a persuasive speaker, and also seems committed to his views. I checked him out on Twitter and found out that he sends out pertinent short messages every couple of hours or so throughout the course of each day. He quickly became my favorite on Twitter.
Al Franken once lambasted Alan Colmes as being a convenient, submissive, and ultimately insignificant foil for Sean Hannity and FoxNews. He also called Colmes a "moderate", which surprised me a bit. Alan Colmes isn't far left, but he isn't in the political center either. I don't think he deserved Franken's criticism, especially since he and Colmes have an almost identical political outlook on things. One thing that does distinguish Colmes from Franken was that the former has consistently been more respectful of those with whom he disagrees (although he tends to interrupt too much, don't they all), while the latter has (at least before becoming a senator) repeatedly personally attacked their character (a problem that I also have with Olbermann).
Although I use Twitter to pick up on what some others are thinking, I still think that it is an inappropriate forum for adequately expressing opinions in a comprehensive way. But as a starting point, it has its advantages. However, I still don't see myself using it to send messages anytime soon...
I decided to follow various political advocates, both liberal and conservative, on Twitter. On the liberal side, I had begun with Keith Olbermann but quickly realized that his use of it wasn't designed for the public in general. Bill Maher was good, although he was often promoting upcoming gigs of his and some of his jokes were way over the top. Michael Moore's was also interesting but definitely a little too hard-core left. But that's good; I need to know the spectrum of how people react to the news. Finally, I was engaging in one of my (very) rare viewings of The O'Reilly Factor on FoxRepublicanNews when lo and behold, there he was: Alan Colmes as the liberal in the forum that was going on. And he was pretty good, holding his own well against criticisms and succeeding in making his own points against the other side. He is quite a persuasive speaker, and also seems committed to his views. I checked him out on Twitter and found out that he sends out pertinent short messages every couple of hours or so throughout the course of each day. He quickly became my favorite on Twitter.
Al Franken once lambasted Alan Colmes as being a convenient, submissive, and ultimately insignificant foil for Sean Hannity and FoxNews. He also called Colmes a "moderate", which surprised me a bit. Alan Colmes isn't far left, but he isn't in the political center either. I don't think he deserved Franken's criticism, especially since he and Colmes have an almost identical political outlook on things. One thing that does distinguish Colmes from Franken was that the former has consistently been more respectful of those with whom he disagrees (although he tends to interrupt too much, don't they all), while the latter has (at least before becoming a senator) repeatedly personally attacked their character (a problem that I also have with Olbermann).
Although I use Twitter to pick up on what some others are thinking, I still think that it is an inappropriate forum for adequately expressing opinions in a comprehensive way. But as a starting point, it has its advantages. However, I still don't see myself using it to send messages anytime soon...
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Make Me a Yearbook
One of the high school nostalgia websites has been putting out various complete yearbooks for sale, apparently the same versions that were originally published during the high school years (or in the case of my own senior yearbook, the year AFTER I had graduated, the turkeys). I can see some alumni jumping on this opportunity and picking up some yearbooks from their "favorite" years. I happen to own the 1972 and 1974 yearbooks from my sophomore and senior years, respectively. My sister owns the 1970 yearbook (her senior year and my eighth grade). Sorry, nostalgia website, I probably don't need 1971 or 1973. But how about...
How about 1994? Or 2005? Or 1983? Why not one of these years? Have a yearbook specially designed for someone who gives the necessary information about all of the events and circumstances going on in his or her life at the time. I worked in a Chinese restaurant in Gainesville in '83 and lived in a certain apartment complex nearby. Here are the businesses I frequented then. Who worked there? Did I go to a church? If so, who were the members and what happened there? What were the big local news and sports stories of 1983? Put the publicly-available pictures of the people involved in my life in 1983 according to their context, much in the same way that class directories are presented in yearbooks. Put it all in one very personalized book and you can kiss good-bye the idiotic notion that somehow your high school years were oh-so much more significant than anything that happened since.
For much of the time I was in high school, I was prevented in different ways from enjoying my experiences there to their fullest. It was not a happy time at all for me, and I harbor no paulsimonesque "Kodachrome" delusional false memories of my life then. Just opening up one of my yearbooks has been something I have come to avoid doing, since it just brings back more vivid, brutal memories of my generally miserable time back then. My years since then, especially since 1979, have all been much happier and more fulfilling by contrast. Pick a year since 1979, ANY YEAR, and make me a yearbook for it!
Or...hey, self, here's an idea...it's never too late: make up your own as you live through each year!
How about 1994? Or 2005? Or 1983? Why not one of these years? Have a yearbook specially designed for someone who gives the necessary information about all of the events and circumstances going on in his or her life at the time. I worked in a Chinese restaurant in Gainesville in '83 and lived in a certain apartment complex nearby. Here are the businesses I frequented then. Who worked there? Did I go to a church? If so, who were the members and what happened there? What were the big local news and sports stories of 1983? Put the publicly-available pictures of the people involved in my life in 1983 according to their context, much in the same way that class directories are presented in yearbooks. Put it all in one very personalized book and you can kiss good-bye the idiotic notion that somehow your high school years were oh-so much more significant than anything that happened since.
For much of the time I was in high school, I was prevented in different ways from enjoying my experiences there to their fullest. It was not a happy time at all for me, and I harbor no paulsimonesque "Kodachrome" delusional false memories of my life then. Just opening up one of my yearbooks has been something I have come to avoid doing, since it just brings back more vivid, brutal memories of my generally miserable time back then. My years since then, especially since 1979, have all been much happier and more fulfilling by contrast. Pick a year since 1979, ANY YEAR, and make me a yearbook for it!
Or...hey, self, here's an idea...it's never too late: make up your own as you live through each year!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
A Little Political Rant
There have been stretches of time on this blog when I have been more active commenting on what was going on in the news. Recently, though, I have stepped back a little with my reactions, especially regarding the political give-and-take (and grandstanding) that will most assuredly only intensify in the coming weeks as presidential campaign fever settles in on the media. I pretty much know where I stand on the issues, which more approximates the Democratic viewpoint than the Republican.
I find it extremely disingenuous of long-established GOP lawmakers, who scarcely raised a brow during the George W. Bush era of massive deficits and who rubber-stamped that deficit spending with their votes, suddenly "getting religion" on this issue the moment that a Democratic president was sworn into office. I resent the phony stances that the Republicans have taken over the years (flag-burning amendments, anti-gay rights ballot initiatives, the Terri Schiavo fiasco, opposing any reasonable immigration reform) that fly in the face of reasonable political debate. The idea fomented by a perverse alliance between libertarians and the Christian right that government is evil unless it is used to pass into law and enforce a particular moral/religious code on everyone is in itself evil, in my opinion. And don't get me started on the right-wing media and how it has taken over the Republican Party to the extent that otherwise reasonable politicians like John Huntsman, Tim Pawlenty, and Mitt Romney now feel the need to pander to the peculiar worldviews and egos of ideological talk jocks of the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.
By contrast, I see the Democrats as representing more or less the status quo, the party that is more likely to keep things stable and predictable in America. I don't like everything they do, though, and there is an extremist wing of this party that I find unrealistic in their agenda. But compared to the extremists running the Republican party, they are much weaker and fewer in number.
As of now, I sadly see the Republicans as the party of ideology and the Democrats as the party of centrism and looking for practical solutions to the many difficult problems facing us today. I hear NONE of the Republican politicians speaking to my interests and concerns, only to the far right, be that the corporate far-right or the religious far-right. That's a shame, for I do think that conservatism is an important part of political debate but has been demagogued to the point where mainstream, reasonable conservatives have been marginalized within their own political party by the more extreme elements.
I find it extremely disingenuous of long-established GOP lawmakers, who scarcely raised a brow during the George W. Bush era of massive deficits and who rubber-stamped that deficit spending with their votes, suddenly "getting religion" on this issue the moment that a Democratic president was sworn into office. I resent the phony stances that the Republicans have taken over the years (flag-burning amendments, anti-gay rights ballot initiatives, the Terri Schiavo fiasco, opposing any reasonable immigration reform) that fly in the face of reasonable political debate. The idea fomented by a perverse alliance between libertarians and the Christian right that government is evil unless it is used to pass into law and enforce a particular moral/religious code on everyone is in itself evil, in my opinion. And don't get me started on the right-wing media and how it has taken over the Republican Party to the extent that otherwise reasonable politicians like John Huntsman, Tim Pawlenty, and Mitt Romney now feel the need to pander to the peculiar worldviews and egos of ideological talk jocks of the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.
By contrast, I see the Democrats as representing more or less the status quo, the party that is more likely to keep things stable and predictable in America. I don't like everything they do, though, and there is an extremist wing of this party that I find unrealistic in their agenda. But compared to the extremists running the Republican party, they are much weaker and fewer in number.
As of now, I sadly see the Republicans as the party of ideology and the Democrats as the party of centrism and looking for practical solutions to the many difficult problems facing us today. I hear NONE of the Republican politicians speaking to my interests and concerns, only to the far right, be that the corporate far-right or the religious far-right. That's a shame, for I do think that conservatism is an important part of political debate but has been demagogued to the point where mainstream, reasonable conservatives have been marginalized within their own political party by the more extreme elements.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Ghost Town Holiday Runs
Last Christmas I ran an uncomfortably warm (outside temperature @ 70 degrees) 20 miles, trying to prepare for a couple of marathon races in January and February. Today, on another holiday six months later, I ran 7.18 miles in 84-88 degree conditions, just trying to maintain a consistent training routine without any particular races planned for the foreseeable future. In both runs, I was uncomfortable with the weather (the Christmas conditions were also humid) but acquitted myself well by covering the distances with "honest" pacing and having decent recoveries from both. Another factor tying these two runs together was what I observed around me.
I expected last Christmas to be a bit of an ordeal, anticipating a lot of families outside with children trying out their new toys and running out into the street (and annoyingly getting in my way). But instead, the whole area seemed like a ghost town, reaching the point where it was starting to feel creepy. Now fast forward to today: I began my run around noon, having waited for the customary morning humidity to dissipate. I expected to see a lot of families outside, including a lot of cookouts. But like Christmas, it seemed as if everyone had gone into hiding (except for a handful of souls outside doing yard work). It wasn't until the 35-minute mark in my run when I saw my first cookout: it turned out to be the last as well during my slightly more than an hour-long jaunt (1:05:44). Other than that, the only people I saw out anywhere were a couple of groups sitting together outside their homes near the end of my run.
I think, our so-called terrible economy notwithstanding, that people still like to pack up the car and do outings on holidays instead of celebrating at their homes. I wonder, though, if I had done today's run straight down Main Street in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, whether the streets wouldn't suddenly be empty of people as well (common sense tells me it would remain impossibly packed). The effect reminds me of the opening scene in Vanilla Sky, when Tom Cruise's character is driving straight through Midtown Manhattan...and finds the place utterly deserted, sending him into a panic. With me, though, the relative absence of people would send me into fits of joy!
I expected last Christmas to be a bit of an ordeal, anticipating a lot of families outside with children trying out their new toys and running out into the street (and annoyingly getting in my way). But instead, the whole area seemed like a ghost town, reaching the point where it was starting to feel creepy. Now fast forward to today: I began my run around noon, having waited for the customary morning humidity to dissipate. I expected to see a lot of families outside, including a lot of cookouts. But like Christmas, it seemed as if everyone had gone into hiding (except for a handful of souls outside doing yard work). It wasn't until the 35-minute mark in my run when I saw my first cookout: it turned out to be the last as well during my slightly more than an hour-long jaunt (1:05:44). Other than that, the only people I saw out anywhere were a couple of groups sitting together outside their homes near the end of my run.
I think, our so-called terrible economy notwithstanding, that people still like to pack up the car and do outings on holidays instead of celebrating at their homes. I wonder, though, if I had done today's run straight down Main Street in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, whether the streets wouldn't suddenly be empty of people as well (common sense tells me it would remain impossibly packed). The effect reminds me of the opening scene in Vanilla Sky, when Tom Cruise's character is driving straight through Midtown Manhattan...and finds the place utterly deserted, sending him into a panic. With me, though, the relative absence of people would send me into fits of joy!
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Need Pocket Scanner/Translator
The other day I was astonished to find a high-quality Russian language magazine on sale at my local Barnes & Noble bookstore. Titled Сноб, it is full of interesting articles spanning the breadth of topics covering the human condition. Skimming the pages from article to article, I found myself partially understanding the material but was very, very frustrated at the many words that stumped me.
Seeing how readily entire pages of text can be almost instantly translated (sometimes admittedly with severe imperfections) on my computer screen, I thought wouldn't it be great to have a small scanning device that would highlight a word or phrase in a foreign language (like the Russian I was reading) and deliver a rough translation? That would really speed up my language learning and free me from my computer screen as well!
It isn't that difficult, at least for me, to handle the grammatical details of a different language. With Russian, I have pretty much cleared that hurdle. But learning and retaining its thousands of words can be daunting. I can learn word lists (which I do), but encountering new words in the more meaningful context of a sentence in an article or story is much more desirable. So if I can't procure one of those possibly-nonexistent pocket/scanner/translators, I'll have to improvise with the old fashioned pocket dictionaries and all of that time-consuming page-turning.
As far as Russian is concerned, you can't beat the Romanov's pocket dictionary that translates words between Russian and English both ways. Not only does it provide an extensive vocabulary, but it also presents grammatical constructions in a comprehensive, detailed manner that I haven't seen even in a larger dictionary. This is important for a language like Russian which, like Latin, relies heavily on verb conjugations and vowel and adjective declensions to convey meaning in a sentence. Unfortunately, this Romanov's dictionary may be out of print as I haven't seen it in any bookstores in years. Fortunately, I still have on old copy at home (and possibly even a second one up in the attic). But it would be nice to have a fresh Romanov's...
Seeing how readily entire pages of text can be almost instantly translated (sometimes admittedly with severe imperfections) on my computer screen, I thought wouldn't it be great to have a small scanning device that would highlight a word or phrase in a foreign language (like the Russian I was reading) and deliver a rough translation? That would really speed up my language learning and free me from my computer screen as well!
It isn't that difficult, at least for me, to handle the grammatical details of a different language. With Russian, I have pretty much cleared that hurdle. But learning and retaining its thousands of words can be daunting. I can learn word lists (which I do), but encountering new words in the more meaningful context of a sentence in an article or story is much more desirable. So if I can't procure one of those possibly-nonexistent pocket/scanner/translators, I'll have to improvise with the old fashioned pocket dictionaries and all of that time-consuming page-turning.
As far as Russian is concerned, you can't beat the Romanov's pocket dictionary that translates words between Russian and English both ways. Not only does it provide an extensive vocabulary, but it also presents grammatical constructions in a comprehensive, detailed manner that I haven't seen even in a larger dictionary. This is important for a language like Russian which, like Latin, relies heavily on verb conjugations and vowel and adjective declensions to convey meaning in a sentence. Unfortunately, this Romanov's dictionary may be out of print as I haven't seen it in any bookstores in years. Fortunately, I still have on old copy at home (and possibly even a second one up in the attic). But it would be nice to have a fresh Romanov's...
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Today's 7.18 Mile Run
My idea of cooking cheap pasta at home and taking it to work for some moderate pre-run carbohydrate-loading worked perfectly. Friday afternoon I boiled a box of bow-tie pasta that I had just bought in a buy-one-get-one-free deal and mixed it with a jar of spaghetti sauce that I also got BOGO. I took a large portion of my concoction to work and ate it cold during my early evening lunch break there. Today I started out on my planned 7.18 mile run around noon, after waiting for the humidity to abate to a reasonable level. When I started my run, the temperature was 89 and the humidity was 63%, better than that 80% humidity I struggled through earlier this week. When I completed the 7.18 miles winding up and down through my neighbood streets, the heat had gone up to 89 and the humidity down to 55%.
Because of the summer heat, I couldn't characterize today's run as being pleasant. However, thanks largely to last night's pasta, I had plenty of energy, running at a pretty high (for me) pace and finishing it in 1:05:19. As usual, I kept myself hydrated throughout the run by carrying with me a bottle of G2 and taking a gulp every seven minutes or so. I also listened to my own personalized MP3 mix of favorite songs, which helped to take the edge off the run's severity. I felt no sign of the foot and leg pain that were problems in previous weeks and months. The post-run recovery is also going quite smoothly.
In spite of the heat-induced discomfort, today's run was successful in that it reestablished my ability to run in the heat of the summer without feeling the need to duck indoors and run on the treadmill. Not that I am forsaking the treadmill, which has served me well during the last few weeks: I just like outdoors running more!
Oh, it also helped that I was off from work today and could start my run later than usual, giving me the chance to better wait for that oppressive morning humidity to dissipate. It might be better in the long run, though, for me to run around sunrise, when the humidity is very high but the temperatures are more reasonable. For where I live, summer lasts a long, long time! And at least that way I wouldn't be concerning myself with "running" out of time before work. But it can be quite an ordeal trying to drag myself out of bed that time of day...
Because of the summer heat, I couldn't characterize today's run as being pleasant. However, thanks largely to last night's pasta, I had plenty of energy, running at a pretty high (for me) pace and finishing it in 1:05:19. As usual, I kept myself hydrated throughout the run by carrying with me a bottle of G2 and taking a gulp every seven minutes or so. I also listened to my own personalized MP3 mix of favorite songs, which helped to take the edge off the run's severity. I felt no sign of the foot and leg pain that were problems in previous weeks and months. The post-run recovery is also going quite smoothly.
In spite of the heat-induced discomfort, today's run was successful in that it reestablished my ability to run in the heat of the summer without feeling the need to duck indoors and run on the treadmill. Not that I am forsaking the treadmill, which has served me well during the last few weeks: I just like outdoors running more!
Oh, it also helped that I was off from work today and could start my run later than usual, giving me the chance to better wait for that oppressive morning humidity to dissipate. It might be better in the long run, though, for me to run around sunrise, when the humidity is very high but the temperatures are more reasonable. For where I live, summer lasts a long, long time! And at least that way I wouldn't be concerning myself with "running" out of time before work. But it can be quite an ordeal trying to drag myself out of bed that time of day...
Friday, July 1, 2011
What Do You Do? (or Moment to Moment, Day by Day)
How do you define yourself? By your nationality, what you perceive your so-called "race" to be, gender, sexual preference, political alignment, philosophical creed, religious (or nonreligious) beliefs, biographical/childhood narrative, friends, or family? Do you say I like this music, that movie or TV show, or a particular author, a type of food or drink in order to reveal your nature to others? Or maybe you're one of those who plasters bumper stickers all over your car to broadcast your identity to the world.
I'd like to offer my own view of what constitutes one's identity. Any or all of the above-mentioned items can contribute to describing one's life, to be sure, and I engage in some of them on this blog (especially with my "favorites" lists). But there is something I believe is far more profound and telling about oneself: what you DO with your life. Specifically, how do you spend your day? Or more immediately, what do you do from moment to moment?
And isn't that really what people think defines one, anyway? Just think of all those popular behind-the-scenes biographies of celebrities: for example, I have enjoyed reading such accounts of the classic rock groups The Beatles and The Doors. Sure, their artistic accomplishments, staged public appearances, and news headlines defined them to an extent, but actually discovering how they spent most of the time in their daily lives was enlightening, to say the least.
We already tend to see those with whom we are more intimate, like family and close friends, by how they spend their time. Yes, we'll cheer with them when they reach their peaks and console them through their personal valleys. But we'll also be more likely to frame our view of who they really are as we observe them doing what all of us have to do: tackle a day, from moment to moment, from beginning to end... and then start afresh the next day!
I'd like to offer my own view of what constitutes one's identity. Any or all of the above-mentioned items can contribute to describing one's life, to be sure, and I engage in some of them on this blog (especially with my "favorites" lists). But there is something I believe is far more profound and telling about oneself: what you DO with your life. Specifically, how do you spend your day? Or more immediately, what do you do from moment to moment?
And isn't that really what people think defines one, anyway? Just think of all those popular behind-the-scenes biographies of celebrities: for example, I have enjoyed reading such accounts of the classic rock groups The Beatles and The Doors. Sure, their artistic accomplishments, staged public appearances, and news headlines defined them to an extent, but actually discovering how they spent most of the time in their daily lives was enlightening, to say the least.
We already tend to see those with whom we are more intimate, like family and close friends, by how they spend their time. Yes, we'll cheer with them when they reach their peaks and console them through their personal valleys. But we'll also be more likely to frame our view of who they really are as we observe them doing what all of us have to do: tackle a day, from moment to moment, from beginning to end... and then start afresh the next day!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Carb-Loading Strategies for My Running
Today I ran 5 miles under pretty much the same weather conditions I struggled with so badly on my 5.69 mile run on Tuesday. However, although the heat and humidity made the noontime run unpleasant, I found myself abounding with energy once I had recovered from the tough start (sometimes I struggle a bit at the beginning of my runs). The only reason I cut off my run at 5 miles was the limiting factor of time: I began my run too late in the day and had to get ready for work! But why was today's run more energetic than Tuesday's?
On Monday I didn't eat very much. Yesterday though, I ate a whole large cheese pizza on my lunch break at work. Tuesday I ran with few carbohydrates to draw upon; today I was carb-loaded! Which makes me ponder...
Should I deliberately load up on carbs the day before every training run or just do it before an especially long run or a public race? I know one thing: I can't afford to be wolfing down whole pizzas 3 to 4 times a week! I'll have to just settle with some good old-fashioned home-cooked pasta instead...
I suppose, as with many things in life, the resolution of this question of carb-loading comes down to a matter of doing things in moderation. Sure, the day before a planned long run (10 miles or more) or before a race I can go all out with the pizza, pasta, or pancakes. And if an ordinary training run is planned the next day, I'll eat more carbs, just in moderation.
I would like to get back to running 7 miles minimum, with at least one 10-plus mile venture per week, so hopefully on Saturday during my next planned run I'll be able to pull it off. I'll just precook some noodles, mix them with some tasty stuff, and take it to work for lunch Friday. Mucho mas barato!
On Monday I didn't eat very much. Yesterday though, I ate a whole large cheese pizza on my lunch break at work. Tuesday I ran with few carbohydrates to draw upon; today I was carb-loaded! Which makes me ponder...
Should I deliberately load up on carbs the day before every training run or just do it before an especially long run or a public race? I know one thing: I can't afford to be wolfing down whole pizzas 3 to 4 times a week! I'll have to just settle with some good old-fashioned home-cooked pasta instead...
I suppose, as with many things in life, the resolution of this question of carb-loading comes down to a matter of doing things in moderation. Sure, the day before a planned long run (10 miles or more) or before a race I can go all out with the pizza, pasta, or pancakes. And if an ordinary training run is planned the next day, I'll eat more carbs, just in moderation.
I would like to get back to running 7 miles minimum, with at least one 10-plus mile venture per week, so hopefully on Saturday during my next planned run I'll be able to pull it off. I'll just precook some noodles, mix them with some tasty stuff, and take it to work for lunch Friday. Mucho mas barato!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
State and Regional Names for Pro Sports Teams
I don't care for the all-too-common practice of giving professional sports franchises the name of an entire state, or even in one case, an entire region of the country. Here is a list of some of the most notable culprits:
Minnesota Vikings (football/NFL)
Minnesota Twins (baseball/AL)
California Angels (baseball/AL)
New England Patriots (football/NFL)
Colorado Rockies (baseball/NL)
Utah Jazz (basketball/NBA)
New Jersey Nets (basketball/NBA)
New Jersey Generals (football/USFL)
Michigan Panthers (football/USFL)
Kentucky Colonels (basketball/ABA)
Indiana Pacers (basketball/ABA,NBA)
Texas Rangers (baseball/AL)
Florida Marlins (baseball/NL)
Florida Panthers (hockey/NHL)
The Floridians (basketball/ABA)
Teams like the Texas Rangers, Florida Marlins, Florida Panthers, and the old California Angels (now corrected to be the Los Angeles Angels) all have competing franchises in the same states (Houston Astros, Tampa Bay Rays, Tampa Bay Lightning, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Oakland Athletics, and San Francisco Giants). The Marlins are moving into their new baseball stadium next year in downtown Miami and will change their name to the Miami Marlins, a much more pleasant-sounding name that actually was the former minor league team's name before Miami was awarded a major league franchise.
I don't understand why the Patriots felt the need to change their name from Boston to New England: it is almost a "given" that Boston major league sports teams are naturally followed in New England states anyway.
Perhaps the Denver franchise called itself "Colorado" because "Denver Rockies" sounds a lot like the old ABA team "Denver Rockets" (which changed their nickname to "Nuggets" when accepted into the NBA in order to avoid conflicts with that league's already-established San Diego/Houston Rockets franchise). Besides, Colorado + Rockies makes sense.
I also get the fact that "Texas" is indispensable to its nickname "Rangers". But the name still implies some following even in the Houston area. On the other hand, Houston's NFL franchise did a payback of sorts when it was nicknamed "Texans".
And although I'm not cool with the Vikings, I can understand using "Minnesota" in conjunction with its nickname "Twins", which refers to the "twin cities" of Minneapolis and St. Paul. If you're going to identify yourself with TWO cities, then I suppose you might as well bring in the rest of the state!
Perhaps the strangest of all these was the old ABA franchise The Floridians. Formerly called the Miami Floridians (still an awful name), they sought to survive as a viable franchise by playing a handful of games in the Tampa area. Hence the strange name change.
Back before there were any Florida teams in Major League Baseball, the general regional team that fans supported was the Atlanta Braves. Now there was no need for the Braves to call themselves the "Deep South Braves". Just as virtually all of the state of Wisconsin follows its Green Bay Packers in football and doesn't need or want them called the "Wisconsin Packers", naming a franchise for a vast region or state is meaningless, and often a bit arrogant if other teams are located in the area.
Naturally, in college sports it is different because state universities go by the name of the institutions and not a specific location (unless the school in question is a branch). Hence, "Florida Gators" (for the University of Florida) is appropriate, not "Gainesville Gators" (although that sounds cooler).
Minnesota Vikings (football/NFL)
Minnesota Twins (baseball/AL)
California Angels (baseball/AL)
New England Patriots (football/NFL)
Colorado Rockies (baseball/NL)
Utah Jazz (basketball/NBA)
New Jersey Nets (basketball/NBA)
New Jersey Generals (football/USFL)
Michigan Panthers (football/USFL)
Kentucky Colonels (basketball/ABA)
Indiana Pacers (basketball/ABA,NBA)
Texas Rangers (baseball/AL)
Florida Marlins (baseball/NL)
Florida Panthers (hockey/NHL)
The Floridians (basketball/ABA)
Teams like the Texas Rangers, Florida Marlins, Florida Panthers, and the old California Angels (now corrected to be the Los Angeles Angels) all have competing franchises in the same states (Houston Astros, Tampa Bay Rays, Tampa Bay Lightning, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Oakland Athletics, and San Francisco Giants). The Marlins are moving into their new baseball stadium next year in downtown Miami and will change their name to the Miami Marlins, a much more pleasant-sounding name that actually was the former minor league team's name before Miami was awarded a major league franchise.
I don't understand why the Patriots felt the need to change their name from Boston to New England: it is almost a "given" that Boston major league sports teams are naturally followed in New England states anyway.
Perhaps the Denver franchise called itself "Colorado" because "Denver Rockies" sounds a lot like the old ABA team "Denver Rockets" (which changed their nickname to "Nuggets" when accepted into the NBA in order to avoid conflicts with that league's already-established San Diego/Houston Rockets franchise). Besides, Colorado + Rockies makes sense.
I also get the fact that "Texas" is indispensable to its nickname "Rangers". But the name still implies some following even in the Houston area. On the other hand, Houston's NFL franchise did a payback of sorts when it was nicknamed "Texans".
And although I'm not cool with the Vikings, I can understand using "Minnesota" in conjunction with its nickname "Twins", which refers to the "twin cities" of Minneapolis and St. Paul. If you're going to identify yourself with TWO cities, then I suppose you might as well bring in the rest of the state!
Perhaps the strangest of all these was the old ABA franchise The Floridians. Formerly called the Miami Floridians (still an awful name), they sought to survive as a viable franchise by playing a handful of games in the Tampa area. Hence the strange name change.
Back before there were any Florida teams in Major League Baseball, the general regional team that fans supported was the Atlanta Braves. Now there was no need for the Braves to call themselves the "Deep South Braves". Just as virtually all of the state of Wisconsin follows its Green Bay Packers in football and doesn't need or want them called the "Wisconsin Packers", naming a franchise for a vast region or state is meaningless, and often a bit arrogant if other teams are located in the area.
Naturally, in college sports it is different because state universities go by the name of the institutions and not a specific location (unless the school in question is a branch). Hence, "Florida Gators" (for the University of Florida) is appropriate, not "Gainesville Gators" (although that sounds cooler).
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
My Fitness Training Of Late
I remember that at this time last year I was focusing on running as my one big fitness activity, trying then to work around the sweltering hot summer weather predominant here in northern Florida. This year I have diversified a little, adding swimming and some cross-training in the weight room into the mix. And I am still dealing with the hot and humid weather, although thankfully (as you can see from the picture above, taken at my local Magnolia Parke Starbucks) we have lately been getting a lot of rain to quench those obnoxious forest fires that had been causing the stinky smoky haze for the previous few weeks. That haze has all but disappeared, and the record high temperatures earlier this month have abated as well, leaving unpleasant enough conditions to deal with anyway. To counteract the heat and humidity, I have been spending some of my workouts at my local YMCA's workout room, which they call the "Wellness Center" (as opposed to their other places that are devoted to sickness, I suppose).
Last Thursday (6/23), I got up and out early to the YMCA pool to find an open spot in which to swim. I swam about 150 meters straight, alternating as usual between freestyle and my "easy" backstroke. Friday (6/23) I slept in and hurried down to the YMCA to run on the treadmill. I managed a "feel good" 4.1 mile run at a time of 35:51 before I had to stop and get ready for work. Saturday (6/24) I was back in the Wellness Center, this time using the elliptical cross-trainer for 35 minutes (level 12-15 resistance). Sunday I went back again to the treadmill, covering 7.0 miles at a time of 58:39 and increasing my speed up to a 7:30/mile pace at the end. Another "feel good" run. Yesterday I managed to drag myself out of bed at get back to the pool, which was more crowded (uh-oh), even at 6:30 AM. I swam 300 meters straight this time, using my usual format. I'm optimistic about getting my distance higher and improving my form. Today I tried a late-morning road run around my neighborhood. It was brutal, with the temperature being 80 and the humidity 81% at the start. Originally intending to cover my course of 7.18 miles, I had to cut it short at 5.69 miles due to the adverse conditions. My time was a typically paced 52:39. My recovery from the run seems to be going pretty well.
Last year at this time I think I was running some longer distances outside, but I was generally resting on the days between runs instead of cross-training. Also, I was waiting until the humidity had dropped considerably, even if it meant running in 90+ degree conditions. So I can't really tell whether I'm doing better or worse than before. But the good news I have to report is that neither my old IT band injury or the recent top-left foot pain has bothered me at all during my workouts, regardless of whatever I have chosen to do recently...
Monday, June 27, 2011
Bond is Back
Well, it's about time! I was beginning to wonder if James Bond movies had been banned from TV for their often embarrassing political incorrectness, but no...the SciFi Channel is showing Goldeneye and Casino Royale today. Yippee!
Goldeneye was Pierce Brosnan's first of four movies as Bond, and in my opinion, his best. Sean Bean, forever etched in fantasy movie aficionados' hearts as the flawed-but-courageous character Boromir in Lord of the Rings, plays a great bad guy. And for almost pure, sadistic evil, there may be no character in the entire James Bond series to rival Xenia Onatopp, portrayed by Famke Janssen.
Casino Royale, an original Ian Fleming story (albeit obviously modified to fit the early 21st century) that was perverted in 1965 into a horrible Bond farcical movie with the same name, introduced one of my favorite Bond actors in Daniel Craig. Gone, though, were the often very humorous characters of Q and Miss Moneypenny. Then again, Craig's Bond isn't quite as much of a "kidder" as his predecessors. To add a touch of continuity between the Brosnan and Craig movies, Bond's boss M, played by Judy Dench, was retained.
Sci-Fi picked the two best James Bond movies of the last six made to show today. But still, to me that's stretching the genre of science fiction a bit.
Is there a "spy shows" channel around? Just think of the possibilities: Bond, the Bourne trilogy, Austin Powers, Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Prisoner, Secret Agent, The Avengers, Mission Impossible, Three Days of the Condor, Marathon Man, the Flint movies, the Harry Palmer movies, the Matt Helm movies, Get Smart, Honey West, I Spy, just to scratch the surface...
Goldeneye was Pierce Brosnan's first of four movies as Bond, and in my opinion, his best. Sean Bean, forever etched in fantasy movie aficionados' hearts as the flawed-but-courageous character Boromir in Lord of the Rings, plays a great bad guy. And for almost pure, sadistic evil, there may be no character in the entire James Bond series to rival Xenia Onatopp, portrayed by Famke Janssen.
Casino Royale, an original Ian Fleming story (albeit obviously modified to fit the early 21st century) that was perverted in 1965 into a horrible Bond farcical movie with the same name, introduced one of my favorite Bond actors in Daniel Craig. Gone, though, were the often very humorous characters of Q and Miss Moneypenny. Then again, Craig's Bond isn't quite as much of a "kidder" as his predecessors. To add a touch of continuity between the Brosnan and Craig movies, Bond's boss M, played by Judy Dench, was retained.
Sci-Fi picked the two best James Bond movies of the last six made to show today. But still, to me that's stretching the genre of science fiction a bit.
Is there a "spy shows" channel around? Just think of the possibilities: Bond, the Bourne trilogy, Austin Powers, Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Prisoner, Secret Agent, The Avengers, Mission Impossible, Three Days of the Condor, Marathon Man, the Flint movies, the Harry Palmer movies, the Matt Helm movies, Get Smart, Honey West, I Spy, just to scratch the surface...
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Exotic Scripts Impede My Language Study
One thing that has greatly impeded my study of certain languages has been difficult scripts. Even after mastering the writing and recognition of Arabic letters, it is still well-nigh impossible to determine how an unfamiliar word sounds just going by the writing, as short vowels are routinely omitted. Both Chinese and Japanese rely on ideographic characters (the former exclusively) that one already needs to know all about beforehand. And Japanese characters can be even more problematic, with their pronunciation varying widely depending on the context in which they appear and which words they are forming with other characters and the Japanese kana syllabary. But even beyond these seemingly insurmountable difficulties, to me it is very annoying to be slowed down in my drive to get a good sense of a language's flow and build up vocabulary and skill in its grammar while stumbling through a foreign script. For other languages like Korean and Hindi do have reasonably phonetic scripts but still impede my progress since I am so attuned to the Latin script.
So what should I do? For now, at least, I feel like continuing my painstakingly slow efforts with Chinese characters, but also focus my studies in general on texts providing romanized transliterations of the aforementioned "problem" languages. Later, I can tackle their scripts with a greater knowledge of what I expect to read.
With Russian's Cyrillic writing system (which I learned in 1976 and have used regularly ever since), this isn't a problem since I am quite adept in it on its own terms. But with the other scripts, well...the hurdles are awfully high and I'm not getting any younger.
Just keep in mind that language is intrinsically primarily oral as opposed to the written, its secondary form. Whatever helps the learner to better learn the spoken language, with its thousands of words that have to be learned to the point where they are recognizable during the ordinary flow of speech, along with unfamiliar grammatical rules (and the ever-present exceptions), is to be promoted.
So what should I do? For now, at least, I feel like continuing my painstakingly slow efforts with Chinese characters, but also focus my studies in general on texts providing romanized transliterations of the aforementioned "problem" languages. Later, I can tackle their scripts with a greater knowledge of what I expect to read.
With Russian's Cyrillic writing system (which I learned in 1976 and have used regularly ever since), this isn't a problem since I am quite adept in it on its own terms. But with the other scripts, well...the hurdles are awfully high and I'm not getting any younger.
Just keep in mind that language is intrinsically primarily oral as opposed to the written, its secondary form. Whatever helps the learner to better learn the spoken language, with its thousands of words that have to be learned to the point where they are recognizable during the ordinary flow of speech, along with unfamiliar grammatical rules (and the ever-present exceptions), is to be promoted.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Two Types of Rx Ads
There are two different types of ads I often see on TV these days that feature prescription medicines. One type promotes a newly introduced prescription drug suggesting to the potential user its benefits, while also indicating some of the drug's negative side effects (which sometimes includes "death"). The viewer is then urged to go to his or her physician and ask for the advertised drug.
Another type of ad also features prescription medicines, but in a much more negative light. These are the class-action lawsuit spots put out by law firms suing prescription companies over some of the nastier side effects of some medicines (also sometimes including "death"). The lawyers claim that anyone joining in on the suit won't have to pay them any fees if they lose, but I never hear them say whether the judge in the court won't force participants suing the companies to pay for court costs and the defendant's expenses. Of course, some of the cases have already been decided for the plaintiff and there is no risk of this happening, just an open invitation to sign up and join in on the spoils!
I have never felt at ease with the idea of medically untrained individuals choosing their own prescription medicine. Isn't this ignorance of medicine supposed to be the very reason they are going to a physician in the first place? Then again, I also realize that medical doctors probably don't know all that much about the actual drugs being hawked to them by aggressive salespeople (I almost always see one around whenever I'm paying my doctor a visit).
And to be perfectly blunt, although I know that certain prescription medicines are essential to maintaining some patients' health and even life, I wonder to myself (and now to you) how really necessary (or even desirable) many of them are. And how much of their sales are due to a manufactured, artificial sense of need created by advertising and the profit motive.
Another type of ad also features prescription medicines, but in a much more negative light. These are the class-action lawsuit spots put out by law firms suing prescription companies over some of the nastier side effects of some medicines (also sometimes including "death"). The lawyers claim that anyone joining in on the suit won't have to pay them any fees if they lose, but I never hear them say whether the judge in the court won't force participants suing the companies to pay for court costs and the defendant's expenses. Of course, some of the cases have already been decided for the plaintiff and there is no risk of this happening, just an open invitation to sign up and join in on the spoils!
I have never felt at ease with the idea of medically untrained individuals choosing their own prescription medicine. Isn't this ignorance of medicine supposed to be the very reason they are going to a physician in the first place? Then again, I also realize that medical doctors probably don't know all that much about the actual drugs being hawked to them by aggressive salespeople (I almost always see one around whenever I'm paying my doctor a visit).
And to be perfectly blunt, although I know that certain prescription medicines are essential to maintaining some patients' health and even life, I wonder to myself (and now to you) how really necessary (or even desirable) many of them are. And how much of their sales are due to a manufactured, artificial sense of need created by advertising and the profit motive.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Late Night Stargazing
Last night after work I was at home "unwinding" in front of the TV set when I decided to walk around my backyard in the dark. Once I was outside, after noticing how really badly the lawn needed mowing, I decided to move the bench that was on the back porch over into the middle of the yard. Then I lied down on it, facing the sky above.
Where I live, the city lights aren't overpowering but still inhibit star gazing to the point where being able to see 5th magnitude stars is problematic. Still, at about 1:30 AM the sky was studded with stars. I instantly recognized the constellations (I was oriented toward the north): Hercules, with its trademark "Keystone" asterism on the left, and Draco's dragonhead beneath it to the north. Above Hercules I could make out the northernmost stars of Ophiuchus, a constellation that resembles Jabba the Hut when traditionally drawn and which technically should have been the 13th sign of the Zodiac (scholar William Harwood believes there were originally 13 signs and Ophiuchus was one of them). Overhead and to the right were the three great summer constellations of Lyra, Cygnus, and Aquila, which respectively contain the stars composing my own asterism that I call the "Summer Triangle": Vega, Deneb, and Altair. Beyond these on the right, to the east, was the murky, darker section of the fall sky introducing Pegasus. To the west, beyond Hercules, was Bootes and Corona Borealis, and then trees obscuring my view. And turning my head down toward the house, I could see the Big Dipper asterism of the constellation Ursa Major, sideways with its handle up and spilling its imaginary contents onto my roof.
As I watched the sky, I noticed that Vega was only a few degrees from being directly overhead. And then I saw something I hadn't witnessed in quite a while. A bright, slow-moving meteor, beginning at about the northern fringe of "Jabba", streaked across the sky eastward, ending just a few degrees west of Altair.
All of this brought back memories of me as a kid in the 1960's in Hollywood, Florida, when I would also venture out at night into my backyard and observe the night sky, full it seemed of stars, summer lightning, fireflies, meteors, and the thick, overpowering smell of jasmine everywhere!
Where I live, the city lights aren't overpowering but still inhibit star gazing to the point where being able to see 5th magnitude stars is problematic. Still, at about 1:30 AM the sky was studded with stars. I instantly recognized the constellations (I was oriented toward the north): Hercules, with its trademark "Keystone" asterism on the left, and Draco's dragonhead beneath it to the north. Above Hercules I could make out the northernmost stars of Ophiuchus, a constellation that resembles Jabba the Hut when traditionally drawn and which technically should have been the 13th sign of the Zodiac (scholar William Harwood believes there were originally 13 signs and Ophiuchus was one of them). Overhead and to the right were the three great summer constellations of Lyra, Cygnus, and Aquila, which respectively contain the stars composing my own asterism that I call the "Summer Triangle": Vega, Deneb, and Altair. Beyond these on the right, to the east, was the murky, darker section of the fall sky introducing Pegasus. To the west, beyond Hercules, was Bootes and Corona Borealis, and then trees obscuring my view. And turning my head down toward the house, I could see the Big Dipper asterism of the constellation Ursa Major, sideways with its handle up and spilling its imaginary contents onto my roof.
As I watched the sky, I noticed that Vega was only a few degrees from being directly overhead. And then I saw something I hadn't witnessed in quite a while. A bright, slow-moving meteor, beginning at about the northern fringe of "Jabba", streaked across the sky eastward, ending just a few degrees west of Altair.
All of this brought back memories of me as a kid in the 1960's in Hollywood, Florida, when I would also venture out at night into my backyard and observe the night sky, full it seemed of stars, summer lightning, fireflies, meteors, and the thick, overpowering smell of jasmine everywhere!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Quizlet: a Good Site for Learning
A while back, my wife Melissa recommended to me a website she had come across that is a handy studying aid. Called Quizlet, it is a directory of different curricula submitted by the public, with various ways offered for students to self-quiz. There are many different categories of study topics offered, but I am particular to the language section. I take whichever language I want to practice my vocabulary from and choose a submission that contains what I deem to be an appropriate word list for me. Then I hit the "scatter" option on Quizlet and practice matching that language's words with their English equivalents. It's very easy to access, extremely flexible, and broad in the choices offered. I come away from sitting at Quizlet for about 30 minutes with the feeling that I have given my brain a good workout and that I have enhanced my knowledge and ability in whichever areas I have practiced.
Quizlet has a free membership and allows visitors to sign in. If you follow this course, then you can compete for "best times" in some of their games. For me, though, I prefer to simply visit and "play" anonymously without signing up.
I have been able to review the Japanese hiragana and katakana syllabaries, the Hindi writing system, and various vocabulary lists in languages like Chinese, Vietnamese, Russian, German, Spanish, French, Japanese, Polish, Hindi, and Arabic. I do have a problem with the Arabic offerings, though. The printed Arabic text here excludes the short-vowel markers that often accompany school texts. Without them, I can only guess as to the exact pronunciation of a particular word (unless of course it is a word that I have already learned). And all of Quizlet's Arabic vocabulary, sad to say, omits those necessary (for me) short vowel markers (an analogous situation exists with Hebrew).
There are other areas in Quizlet to explore besides languages. Just try it and get what you can from it! And if you are well-versed in an area and have an altruistic heart, you might consider submitting your own material to Quizlet to aid others in their learning quests!
Quizlet has a free membership and allows visitors to sign in. If you follow this course, then you can compete for "best times" in some of their games. For me, though, I prefer to simply visit and "play" anonymously without signing up.
I have been able to review the Japanese hiragana and katakana syllabaries, the Hindi writing system, and various vocabulary lists in languages like Chinese, Vietnamese, Russian, German, Spanish, French, Japanese, Polish, Hindi, and Arabic. I do have a problem with the Arabic offerings, though. The printed Arabic text here excludes the short-vowel markers that often accompany school texts. Without them, I can only guess as to the exact pronunciation of a particular word (unless of course it is a word that I have already learned). And all of Quizlet's Arabic vocabulary, sad to say, omits those necessary (for me) short vowel markers (an analogous situation exists with Hebrew).
There are other areas in Quizlet to explore besides languages. Just try it and get what you can from it! And if you are well-versed in an area and have an altruistic heart, you might consider submitting your own material to Quizlet to aid others in their learning quests!
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Early Morning Swimming and Running
This morning I tried something I had been meaning to do but was avoiding because...well, getting up very early in the morning doesn't exactly fit well with my work schedule. I got up anyway and went to my local YMCA pool at about 6:15 to swim a few laps. Make that VERY few laps, as I haven't been there in a while and need to build up my distance again.
The outside temperature was a pleasant 70 degrees, expected to rise to near 100 today (it is already 96, just six hours later in the early afternoon when I'm writing this). The humidity was high at 89%, but who cares about that when you're swimming? The main thing was that there were no children there. Not that many of them aren't awake at that time of day: their parents (at least the ones at home with them) are probably still snoozing away in bed. But there were a lot of adults there this morning, taking up 3-4 of the six available lanes. The only one in the shallow section was an elderly lady doing water aerobics, so I picked that area to swim in. It was a positive experience and I plan to try it again tomorrow morning (easier said than done).
Upon getting back home, I decided to go ahead and run some as well, taking advantage of the reasonable temperature. My 4.1 mile jaunt around the neighborhood was both shorter and slower than usual. I seem to run better when the humidity is low, regardless of the temperature. But when it's very hot, like it is now at 96, my recovery can be slower. Right now I feel pretty good, except for a some static pain on the top of my left foot that seems unaffected by running.
I want to get back to alternating my running and swimming every other day. Let's see if I can drag myself out of bed consistently to do this!
The outside temperature was a pleasant 70 degrees, expected to rise to near 100 today (it is already 96, just six hours later in the early afternoon when I'm writing this). The humidity was high at 89%, but who cares about that when you're swimming? The main thing was that there were no children there. Not that many of them aren't awake at that time of day: their parents (at least the ones at home with them) are probably still snoozing away in bed. But there were a lot of adults there this morning, taking up 3-4 of the six available lanes. The only one in the shallow section was an elderly lady doing water aerobics, so I picked that area to swim in. It was a positive experience and I plan to try it again tomorrow morning (easier said than done).
Upon getting back home, I decided to go ahead and run some as well, taking advantage of the reasonable temperature. My 4.1 mile jaunt around the neighborhood was both shorter and slower than usual. I seem to run better when the humidity is low, regardless of the temperature. But when it's very hot, like it is now at 96, my recovery can be slower. Right now I feel pretty good, except for a some static pain on the top of my left foot that seems unaffected by running.
I want to get back to alternating my running and swimming every other day. Let's see if I can drag myself out of bed consistently to do this!
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Super 8, 1979, & Pop Culture
The movie Super 8, directed by J.J. Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg, brought back to me vivid memories of the personally tumultuous year of 1979. The movie's writers were very careful, down to the month, to capture the culture of the era, including the dress and general appearance of the people, ongoing news stories, technological trends, and popular music.
One element of this which touched me (because I was keenly aware of it at the time) was the conflict escalating in 1979 between the disco era and the encroachment that the two emerging branches of rock music called "punk" and "new wave" were beginning to make on disco's supremacy. It all came to a head in the early summer of that year when an unknown British group called The Knack released a single titled My Sharona. Suddenly My Sharona was the biggest hit around, played incessantly it seems on the radio and sung, air-strummed, and thudded to by people (mainly young people). Super 8 captured this phenomenon perfectly.
Another trend noticed by this noteworthy film was the personalizing of music listening through the use of portable cassette players with headphones. Now, of course, we have the iWhatever devices, with the next logical step to this trend being cranial implants, I suppose (read Tad Williams' wonderful science fiction classic series Otherland to see where we're going with this). But back then, Walkman cassete players were the big novelty.
I saw Super 8 this past Sunday and would like to offer some more thoughts about it without giving away the story. So prepare yourself for more Super 8 analysis from me...
One element of this which touched me (because I was keenly aware of it at the time) was the conflict escalating in 1979 between the disco era and the encroachment that the two emerging branches of rock music called "punk" and "new wave" were beginning to make on disco's supremacy. It all came to a head in the early summer of that year when an unknown British group called The Knack released a single titled My Sharona. Suddenly My Sharona was the biggest hit around, played incessantly it seems on the radio and sung, air-strummed, and thudded to by people (mainly young people). Super 8 captured this phenomenon perfectly.
Another trend noticed by this noteworthy film was the personalizing of music listening through the use of portable cassette players with headphones. Now, of course, we have the iWhatever devices, with the next logical step to this trend being cranial implants, I suppose (read Tad Williams' wonderful science fiction classic series Otherland to see where we're going with this). But back then, Walkman cassete players were the big novelty.
I saw Super 8 this past Sunday and would like to offer some more thoughts about it without giving away the story. So prepare yourself for more Super 8 analysis from me...
Monday, June 20, 2011
Where's Bond?
I like watching escapist films, but not all. I like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings (both on TV lately), and tend to tune in whenever a Harry Potter flick is on. It matters not how many times I've seen these movies: I just like watching the same scenes over and over again. Apparently, a lot of other people feel the same way, else they wouldn't keep showing them like they do. But lately I have become a little disturbed about what might be the longest-running escapist adventure series around, and the fact that NOBODY'S showing it: James Bond.
As an honest popular culture history indicator, you can't beat James Bond. The first movie, Doctor No, came out in 1962 and ever since, movie after movie churns out displaying what the producers think represents what is "cool" in society at that time, some of which hasn't stood the test of time and today seems silly, crude, or even chauvinistic.
I wonder if perhaps one of the reasons the Bond series hasn't been on TV lately is how, especially in the earlier movies, women tended to be marginalized as sex objects. I find this awkward myself, but I also realize that at the time those movies were out, a lot of this was "mainstream" in society. I can be pious and self-righteous from my politically-correct perch in 2011 about this portrayal of women, but then again I wonder which movies I currently like will be panned in similar ways twenty, thirty years from now.
I like the action, humor, pretension-to-coolness, implausible plot twists, Bond portrayals by different actors, and probably most of all, the bad guys in these movies. I also think it's interesting how the international political situation has been played out in these films over the years. Early on, China was often seem as a villainous power manipulating the two superpowers (portrayed in the movies as the Soviet Union and Great Britain, with the U.S. serving as a dim-witted-but-strong ally of the brilliant Brits). Later, China's image was cleaned up considerably.
One theme that tended to make the James Bond films relevant through time, in spite of their often (very) anachronistic social conventions, was the depiction of the villains as sponsors and perpetrators of international terrorism. For decades, Bond movies featured independent terrorist organizations often pitting the superpowers against each other to their own benefit while in the real world much of what was going on then was part of a proxy conflict between those powers. Now, we see the major countries having to deal with independent groups that remind me in ways of the Bond villains.
But that's really a side issue for me. I just like watching the James Bond movies for fun! Bring 'em back!
As an honest popular culture history indicator, you can't beat James Bond. The first movie, Doctor No, came out in 1962 and ever since, movie after movie churns out displaying what the producers think represents what is "cool" in society at that time, some of which hasn't stood the test of time and today seems silly, crude, or even chauvinistic.
I wonder if perhaps one of the reasons the Bond series hasn't been on TV lately is how, especially in the earlier movies, women tended to be marginalized as sex objects. I find this awkward myself, but I also realize that at the time those movies were out, a lot of this was "mainstream" in society. I can be pious and self-righteous from my politically-correct perch in 2011 about this portrayal of women, but then again I wonder which movies I currently like will be panned in similar ways twenty, thirty years from now.
I like the action, humor, pretension-to-coolness, implausible plot twists, Bond portrayals by different actors, and probably most of all, the bad guys in these movies. I also think it's interesting how the international political situation has been played out in these films over the years. Early on, China was often seem as a villainous power manipulating the two superpowers (portrayed in the movies as the Soviet Union and Great Britain, with the U.S. serving as a dim-witted-but-strong ally of the brilliant Brits). Later, China's image was cleaned up considerably.
One theme that tended to make the James Bond films relevant through time, in spite of their often (very) anachronistic social conventions, was the depiction of the villains as sponsors and perpetrators of international terrorism. For decades, Bond movies featured independent terrorist organizations often pitting the superpowers against each other to their own benefit while in the real world much of what was going on then was part of a proxy conflict between those powers. Now, we see the major countries having to deal with independent groups that remind me in ways of the Bond villains.
But that's really a side issue for me. I just like watching the James Bond movies for fun! Bring 'em back!
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Freckles
Freckles is our five-year old mixed breed dog we picked up as a puppy from Puppy Hill Farms, a local sanctuary for abandoned dogs. And yes, the lawn needs mowing!
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Arab Culture Professor and Islamophobia
I have been carrying around with me an interesting article I tore out of May 24's Independent Florida Alligator. The article, written by Michael Sykes, is titled "Arab culture professor discusses fear of Muslims". And the first word in the article is "Islamophobia".
Stephen Sheehi is the University of South Carolina professor of Arabic and Arab culture who paid a visit to Gainesville's politically far-left Civic Media Center to speak and discuss this issue. So what is Islamophobia, anyway?
According to Sheehi, it is "an irrational fear or hatred of Islam and Muslims, one of the inherent racist tropes in America."
So with this one statement I could see the speaker's own inherent bias: when speaking about America per se (as opposed to other places), racism is inherent. But how about all of those wonderful Muslim countries out there? How tolerant are they of other religions? Not very. As a matter of fact, going by the horrible sectarian conflicts going on in several of them, they aren't even very tolerant of their fellow Muslims.
Sheehan went on, "Racism is the classic American way to divide and conquer. It is a linchpin in our society, unfortunately". Generally speaking, I sadly have to agree with him on this, but only in the broader sense of prejudice (not just racism). I see politicians all the time catering to prejudicial views about people of different demographic groups, be it "race", religion, gender, sexual preference, or nationality. Every presidential election sees conservatives place on the ballots in closely contested states referenda that would restrict gay rights, with the aim of motivating "their" voters to rush to the ballots (and vote for their presidential candidate as well). There is, I believe, some pandering to bigotry concerning undocumented Mexican immigrants, although the issue is much more complex. And look at the fuss some are making at GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's Mormon faith! But perhaps the most glaring example of what I see as prejudicial anti-Islamic sentiment is last year's widespread public objection to the so-called "ground zero" Muslim center to be built in Lower Manhattan, with some politicians jumping in to fan the flames of anger.
So yes, there is prejudice in America. But Sheehi is full of it if he thinks that prejudice is just an American fault: it permeates all of humanity. I would respect this man more were he to balance out his criticisms of our society with criticisms of the bigotry and intolerance festering within Islamic nations. For it is from that pool of bigotry that the terrorists have emerged who are responsible in large part for generating Islamophobia in America, Sheehi's high, holy, and smug opinions notwithstanding.
Another objection I had to Sheehi's argument was his categorizing prejudice against Islam in America as being racial in nature. Oh, I wasn't aware that there was such a thing as a Muslim race. Chinese Muslims are Chinese, Russian Muslims are Russian, Bosnian Muslims are Bosnian, Indonesian Muslims are Indonesian, Arab Muslims are Arab, and so on. Where is the race in that? No, I'll tell Professor Smug what I think the three main causes of anti-Islamic sentiment in this country are:
1) Terrorism. People don't want to die and they are afraid of other people committing violent acts in the name of Islam, duh. Acts like, for example, hijacking jets and flying them into buildings! No, terrorists may commit atrocities in the name of a faith but that doesn't make the faith itself culpable, so the negative reaction, while understandable, is still irrational and needs to be resisted. But this fear isn't racial in nature.
2) The predominant religion here is Christianity, a faith that largely sees itself as exclusive and in competition with Islam for adherents. Christians and Muslims typically see each other as being in error and on the wrong side of God with their beliefs. Like it or not, this creates the phenomenon in a country, where Christianity is the prevailing religion, of widespread disapproval of a competing, aggressively-spreading faith like Islam which, like Christianity, puts a lot of stock in increasing its number. So the "phobia" here isn't racist, but religious in nature. And Muslims who object need to take an honest look at countries where Islam is the established faith and see just how tolerant these places are to competing faiths.
3) Finally, there is a basic trait of being human that tends to insulate a group/tribe/clan/society against others who would change (or appear to change) that group's ideology and traditions, or establish a sense of authority from the outside. Call it the "invading horde syndrome" if you will and maybe there is a dose of racism involved. But it isn't all race and it isn't all American, either. All of humanity displays this behavior.
So sure, people need to be more accepting of practicing Muslims in this country. And by the same token, Muslims need to be more accepting of practicing non-Muslims in other lands. Anti-Islamic sentiment is NOT primarily racial in nature and America is NOT a singularly racist nation as opposed to all of the others. Racism exists, to be sure, but those from other lands need to also display some honesty in examining how this problem festers in their original homelands as well and not go around acting as if they are "above it all". They're not.
Stephen Sheehi is the University of South Carolina professor of Arabic and Arab culture who paid a visit to Gainesville's politically far-left Civic Media Center to speak and discuss this issue. So what is Islamophobia, anyway?
According to Sheehi, it is "an irrational fear or hatred of Islam and Muslims, one of the inherent racist tropes in America."
So with this one statement I could see the speaker's own inherent bias: when speaking about America per se (as opposed to other places), racism is inherent. But how about all of those wonderful Muslim countries out there? How tolerant are they of other religions? Not very. As a matter of fact, going by the horrible sectarian conflicts going on in several of them, they aren't even very tolerant of their fellow Muslims.
Sheehan went on, "Racism is the classic American way to divide and conquer. It is a linchpin in our society, unfortunately". Generally speaking, I sadly have to agree with him on this, but only in the broader sense of prejudice (not just racism). I see politicians all the time catering to prejudicial views about people of different demographic groups, be it "race", religion, gender, sexual preference, or nationality. Every presidential election sees conservatives place on the ballots in closely contested states referenda that would restrict gay rights, with the aim of motivating "their" voters to rush to the ballots (and vote for their presidential candidate as well). There is, I believe, some pandering to bigotry concerning undocumented Mexican immigrants, although the issue is much more complex. And look at the fuss some are making at GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's Mormon faith! But perhaps the most glaring example of what I see as prejudicial anti-Islamic sentiment is last year's widespread public objection to the so-called "ground zero" Muslim center to be built in Lower Manhattan, with some politicians jumping in to fan the flames of anger.
So yes, there is prejudice in America. But Sheehi is full of it if he thinks that prejudice is just an American fault: it permeates all of humanity. I would respect this man more were he to balance out his criticisms of our society with criticisms of the bigotry and intolerance festering within Islamic nations. For it is from that pool of bigotry that the terrorists have emerged who are responsible in large part for generating Islamophobia in America, Sheehi's high, holy, and smug opinions notwithstanding.
Another objection I had to Sheehi's argument was his categorizing prejudice against Islam in America as being racial in nature. Oh, I wasn't aware that there was such a thing as a Muslim race. Chinese Muslims are Chinese, Russian Muslims are Russian, Bosnian Muslims are Bosnian, Indonesian Muslims are Indonesian, Arab Muslims are Arab, and so on. Where is the race in that? No, I'll tell Professor Smug what I think the three main causes of anti-Islamic sentiment in this country are:
1) Terrorism. People don't want to die and they are afraid of other people committing violent acts in the name of Islam, duh. Acts like, for example, hijacking jets and flying them into buildings! No, terrorists may commit atrocities in the name of a faith but that doesn't make the faith itself culpable, so the negative reaction, while understandable, is still irrational and needs to be resisted. But this fear isn't racial in nature.
2) The predominant religion here is Christianity, a faith that largely sees itself as exclusive and in competition with Islam for adherents. Christians and Muslims typically see each other as being in error and on the wrong side of God with their beliefs. Like it or not, this creates the phenomenon in a country, where Christianity is the prevailing religion, of widespread disapproval of a competing, aggressively-spreading faith like Islam which, like Christianity, puts a lot of stock in increasing its number. So the "phobia" here isn't racist, but religious in nature. And Muslims who object need to take an honest look at countries where Islam is the established faith and see just how tolerant these places are to competing faiths.
3) Finally, there is a basic trait of being human that tends to insulate a group/tribe/clan/society against others who would change (or appear to change) that group's ideology and traditions, or establish a sense of authority from the outside. Call it the "invading horde syndrome" if you will and maybe there is a dose of racism involved. But it isn't all race and it isn't all American, either. All of humanity displays this behavior.
So sure, people need to be more accepting of practicing Muslims in this country. And by the same token, Muslims need to be more accepting of practicing non-Muslims in other lands. Anti-Islamic sentiment is NOT primarily racial in nature and America is NOT a singularly racist nation as opposed to all of the others. Racism exists, to be sure, but those from other lands need to also display some honesty in examining how this problem festers in their original homelands as well and not go around acting as if they are "above it all". They're not.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Coffee Drinker "Outed"
I suppose it eventually had to happen: after the recent strange closing of the very popular and crowded Starbucks down the road, many of their former customers have flocked to my own favorite Starbucks at Magnolia Parke in NW Gainesville. A number of times since then, I have experienced no available indoor seating. I would walk inside, examine the situation, and then walk right back out. Today, though, I decided to go back to my old custom of sitting outside.
This is interesting today in that, earlier on, there was that obnoxious, smelly smoky haze everywhere. But now it's gone and only typical summer heat rules. That's O.K.: I'm a Floridian, no point in whining about the heat, right?
Thursday, June 16, 2011
My Run Against Adversity
Today I had a choice: play it wise and cautious with my running, or gut it out Karno-style. I chose the latter.
In case you're wondering, "Karno" is Dean Karnazes, an ultra-distance runner who has written some inspiring books on his interest and about whom I have written on this blog. His message is to run through the pain and adversity in order to achieve progress. Well, today I had some pain and adversity.
For one, the top of my left foot ached because of painful swelling caused by a shoe I had been wearing that didn't fit right. I wondered whether I should just wait a few days before running again (in different shoes, of course). For another, after I had made my decision to go ahead and run anyway, I stepped out of my front door and got a whiff of that horrid smoky haze that comes and goes due to local forest fires. It didn't seem overwhelming, so in spite of my reservations I set out on my run.
During the run, the aching never got worse, and afterwards the foot seems no worse for wear. And I think my lungs were able to hold up as well. I ran my usual distance of 7.18 miles in my usual range of time (1:06:44).
The past few runs of mine have not been pleasant ones, and I can chiefly blame the weather: hot, humid, smoky. Did you know that yesterday's official high in Gainesville was 102?! This was easily a new record, and scorching days are forecast in the near future. And the fires continue to burn...
In case you're wondering, "Karno" is Dean Karnazes, an ultra-distance runner who has written some inspiring books on his interest and about whom I have written on this blog. His message is to run through the pain and adversity in order to achieve progress. Well, today I had some pain and adversity.
For one, the top of my left foot ached because of painful swelling caused by a shoe I had been wearing that didn't fit right. I wondered whether I should just wait a few days before running again (in different shoes, of course). For another, after I had made my decision to go ahead and run anyway, I stepped out of my front door and got a whiff of that horrid smoky haze that comes and goes due to local forest fires. It didn't seem overwhelming, so in spite of my reservations I set out on my run.
During the run, the aching never got worse, and afterwards the foot seems no worse for wear. And I think my lungs were able to hold up as well. I ran my usual distance of 7.18 miles in my usual range of time (1:06:44).
The past few runs of mine have not been pleasant ones, and I can chiefly blame the weather: hot, humid, smoky. Did you know that yesterday's official high in Gainesville was 102?! This was easily a new record, and scorching days are forecast in the near future. And the fires continue to burn...
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
A Beef About Business Today
I would like to register a complaint.
When I walk into a restaurant, store, coffee shop, or any other business establishment, I have certain standards as to how I want to be treated by the staff there. As part of the unspoken contract that I want honored, I expect the employees to focus their attention and behavior on treating me with respect, showing a friendly attitude attuned to my interests regarding their business. I don't want to have to deal with an individual who wears their personal narrative and feelings out on their sleeve. It is not my "job" to sympathize with how bad a day an employee is having, nor to I have a responsibility to make an employee personally approve of me in order to be treated with dignity as a paying customer. I enter a business establishment with a friendly, respectful attitude toward those working there and with the intention of spending my money on goods, and expect reciprocal treatment. It is not my job to enhance the personal lives of employees there by making myself interesting to them or providing them a source of entertainment.
There is a basic standard of public behavior in businesses nowadays that I very rarely see practiced anymore. Sure, I get a lot of perfunctory "politeness", but it is often quashed by facial and body language that says "I don't want to be here and your presence annoys me". Also, I am sick to death of sitting in a restaurant or coffee shop and hearing the employees there loudly talk about their personal lives, or even worse, customers that they like or dislike.
I understand that good help is sometimes hard to come by these days, but is the state of general social behavior so bad in my country that we are forced with having to put up with disrespectful and unprofessional behavior in the places where we most want to be treated with respect? That's poor business!
When I walk into a restaurant, store, coffee shop, or any other business establishment, I have certain standards as to how I want to be treated by the staff there. As part of the unspoken contract that I want honored, I expect the employees to focus their attention and behavior on treating me with respect, showing a friendly attitude attuned to my interests regarding their business. I don't want to have to deal with an individual who wears their personal narrative and feelings out on their sleeve. It is not my "job" to sympathize with how bad a day an employee is having, nor to I have a responsibility to make an employee personally approve of me in order to be treated with dignity as a paying customer. I enter a business establishment with a friendly, respectful attitude toward those working there and with the intention of spending my money on goods, and expect reciprocal treatment. It is not my job to enhance the personal lives of employees there by making myself interesting to them or providing them a source of entertainment.
There is a basic standard of public behavior in businesses nowadays that I very rarely see practiced anymore. Sure, I get a lot of perfunctory "politeness", but it is often quashed by facial and body language that says "I don't want to be here and your presence annoys me". Also, I am sick to death of sitting in a restaurant or coffee shop and hearing the employees there loudly talk about their personal lives, or even worse, customers that they like or dislike.
I understand that good help is sometimes hard to come by these days, but is the state of general social behavior so bad in my country that we are forced with having to put up with disrespectful and unprofessional behavior in the places where we most want to be treated with respect? That's poor business!
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Science Channel Show About Reality
I am not a scientist by training, not even an engineer or technician. I have taken science courses in college, though, and continue to maintain a healthy interest in it. But I don't have the specialized training needed to fully understand the cutting edge of new research, nor do I possess the extensive mathematical prowess needed to make my way through some of the branches, most notably physics. But that shouldn't keep me from writing about it, though. After all, I am affected by scientific research, for better or for worse, and also tend to share in its subsidy either directly through my taxes or indirectly through private companies (which pass on the cost of research to the customer in their goods and services).
The Science Channel is one of my favorite channels to watch. Not that I like everything on it: they seem recently to be ominously turning down the road of fiction programming, something more appropriate to the Sci-Fi Channel. But there are some really good shows on it nonetheless. The other night I saw one of these, which dealt with how today's physicists are coming up with theories and ideas concerning the basic nature of reality.
I probably am off a little with my accuracy in describing the different viewpoints I heard. But still, I was amazed at how divergent many of the top physicists were in their take on the basic nature of the universe and reality. One conjectured that, since time depends on mass to have any meaning, and that at the origin of the big bang there was a singularity which made time irrelevant, then our own universe eventually will expand and cool to the point where only massless photons are left. And thus no time, fulfilling (at least in the mind of this particular physicist) the prerequisite for another big bang to a new universe. Another physicist had a similar idea, only that it was black holes that were the spawning grounds for new universes. Renown Stanford physicist Leonard Susskind, largely known for his holographic theory that supposedly allows for information to be preserved in the event horizons surrounding black holes, postulated that there may be a holographic projection of all of our three-dimensional reality elsewhere in the universe. And then he pulled a mind-job on everyone by suggesting that perhaps what we perceive as reality around us is nothing more than a hologram.
Susskind, with his ideas, still stressed the point that it was through mathematics that he developed his theories. In fact, without this tool, scientific advancement would be very, very limited. And then another physicist came on the show to deliver the coup de grace: maybe mathematics isn't a tool that humankind has invented and developed over the centuries. Maybe instead mathematics IS the underlying structure of reality and we are gradually becoming more aware of it. Upon hearing this I felt like screaming in frustration...
The Science Channel is one of my favorite channels to watch. Not that I like everything on it: they seem recently to be ominously turning down the road of fiction programming, something more appropriate to the Sci-Fi Channel. But there are some really good shows on it nonetheless. The other night I saw one of these, which dealt with how today's physicists are coming up with theories and ideas concerning the basic nature of reality.
I probably am off a little with my accuracy in describing the different viewpoints I heard. But still, I was amazed at how divergent many of the top physicists were in their take on the basic nature of the universe and reality. One conjectured that, since time depends on mass to have any meaning, and that at the origin of the big bang there was a singularity which made time irrelevant, then our own universe eventually will expand and cool to the point where only massless photons are left. And thus no time, fulfilling (at least in the mind of this particular physicist) the prerequisite for another big bang to a new universe. Another physicist had a similar idea, only that it was black holes that were the spawning grounds for new universes. Renown Stanford physicist Leonard Susskind, largely known for his holographic theory that supposedly allows for information to be preserved in the event horizons surrounding black holes, postulated that there may be a holographic projection of all of our three-dimensional reality elsewhere in the universe. And then he pulled a mind-job on everyone by suggesting that perhaps what we perceive as reality around us is nothing more than a hologram.
Susskind, with his ideas, still stressed the point that it was through mathematics that he developed his theories. In fact, without this tool, scientific advancement would be very, very limited. And then another physicist came on the show to deliver the coup de grace: maybe mathematics isn't a tool that humankind has invented and developed over the centuries. Maybe instead mathematics IS the underlying structure of reality and we are gradually becoming more aware of it. Upon hearing this I felt like screaming in frustration...
Monday, June 13, 2011
Congrats to the Mavs
So the Dallas Mavericks were able to put away the supposedly-invincible Miami Heat four games to two in the National Basketball Association final series to claim their first championship ever. Good for them! I liked the way they worked as a team, and it reminded me of the way that the Boston Celtics played. As for the Miami Heat, they can have their superstars, for all I care. I am sick of this ongoing melodrama about the hurt feelings of their moody forward Lebron James, who apparently is of the attitude that he can just "turn it on" in a game whenever he happens to be in the mood...
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