Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Back to nature at Big Bear Lake
Visited Big Bear Lake for the first time on Tuesday. It's really a beautiful place, and the weather was perfect: slightly cool but sunny all day. The highlight was when I saw a pelican just as he was catching a fish.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Bad science: Prometheus (SPOILERS!)
Like a lot of science fiction fans, Alien and Blade Runner are two of my favorite movies of all time. The wonderful atmosphere, the deep characters, the timeless themes, they are head and shoulders above most movies in the genre.
So naturally, I was looking forward to Ridley Scott's third science fiction film: Prometheus, a prequel to Alien. What I was not expecting was some of the worst science fiction that I have ever seen. There are major plot holes in character development and motivation, but even worse for me was the incredible disregard for basic science.
I'm the kind of guy who goes out of his way to give folks the benefit of the doubt. But it is clear that whoever wrote this dreck would not have passed high school science.
SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!
Here I'll list a few of the reasons why I think this movie is an affront to physics, medicine, computer science, biology, and cartography.
1) Astronomy/Archeology: At the beginning of the movie, we are treated to a wonderful scene of a single member of the species later referred to as "The Engineers" putting his DNA into the water supply. Cut to modern times, where our hero archaeologist couple finds a cave painting of a giant being pointing to five stars.
Where to start? First, why would this alien being give us a direct clue about where he/she came from? Second, memory isn't passed through DNA, so how would anyone know to draw this? Third, if ancient peoples had the memory passed through the magic DNA, why would no one now have it? I never thought I would utter these words: How they found the pyramid in Alien v. Predator was more realistic than how they found the pyramid in this film. (Shudder.)
2) Biology: The biologist refers to evolutionary theory as "Darwinism", a term used almost exclusively today by creationists trying to paint evolution as a faith rather than science, and rarely used by real scientists. Moreover, he says "300 years of Darwinism" a mere 230 years after the publication of "The Origin of Species".
3) Biology: The DNA of the Engineers is a match with human DNA. This simply makes no sense from a biological perspective. A few million years of evolution and our DNA will be very different simply through random drift and mutation than that of the Engineers. And if the Engineer DNA dump happened more recently, then why do we share 99% of our DNA with chimpanzees again?
4) Linguistics: David speaks the Alien language by studying all of Earth's languages. Again, memory isn't passed through DNA. Moreover, he reads and writes it as well. Now, in the opening scene we do see writing on the lid of the container the Engineer opens at the beginning. But even if someone stumbled across this *single lid in the entire world*, why would that person think that represented writing *before writing was invented*. Any human writing would be independently created, as would our speech. Again, this is just bad writing by someone who wants to ignore what we do know about the evolution of human language.
5) Cartography: The only character who gets lost in the entire film is *the geologist who is specifically mapping the cave system*. He's leading the group in the first part of the story! Heck, I can read an automap, and I don't exactly have a PhD in cartography.
6) Biology: I’ve got a drop of unknown alien substance. Do I a) put it on a slide and stick it under the microscope? b) infect one of the many lab animals brought along for the purpose of testing biological material, c) put it in a Petri dish with Agar nutrient d) attempt to infect one of the two “leaders” of the expedition by *dipping the material first in alcohol* and then tricking the hapless test subject into drinking it, after which lose interest and do not observe the person for the next twelve hours.
7) Medicine: The magic medical machine is a wonderful advance of future technology. It is also utterly ridiculous. Once you have the hardware to preform automated surgery, the rest is simple software. But when Shaw tries to use the machine for an abortion, she is coldly informed that the machine is only set up for male patients. What? My camera card has a 128 gig card in it, and this giant machine only has the procedures for the menfolk downloaded? (This scene was intended as foreshadowing for the return of a character that only people who don't know who Guy Pearce is thought was dead, but it comes across as a pointless restriction on future tech.)
8) Medicine: The self automated surgery is the coolest scene in the film. It is also an affront to human physiology. It occurs too early in the film. After a cut across the abdomen of that length (about 15 inches from what I saw), Shaw could not even stand up without "passing out" levels of pain. But not only does she stand, she walks, and she outruns CGI explosions!
9) Physics: The Engineers space ship is heading away from the pyramid. The Prometheus is heading away from the pyramid. So when they collide, why does the Engineers ship drop straight down right on top of the landing site. Conservation of momentum? Not on this planet!
10) Cybernetics: It's 2012, and we're still not past this "robots have no souls" nonsense. I would think after Bishop, T2, Data, and Scott's own Blade Runner, we'd have moved past this crazy notion that robots can't be moral. (See also, everything Asimov ever wrote about robots.) David is a sentient being who passes the Turing test with flying colors. He's also an amoral jackass. Being a robot doesn't excuse that.
Okay enough ranting. Go see Prometheus for the spectacle of Michael Fassbender and Charlize Theron having a contest to see who can act more inhuman, but when they try to do science, please, don't let your children watch.
Prometheus: 2 out of 5 stars
So naturally, I was looking forward to Ridley Scott's third science fiction film: Prometheus, a prequel to Alien. What I was not expecting was some of the worst science fiction that I have ever seen. There are major plot holes in character development and motivation, but even worse for me was the incredible disregard for basic science.
I'm the kind of guy who goes out of his way to give folks the benefit of the doubt. But it is clear that whoever wrote this dreck would not have passed high school science.
SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!
Here I'll list a few of the reasons why I think this movie is an affront to physics, medicine, computer science, biology, and cartography.
1) Astronomy/Archeology: At the beginning of the movie, we are treated to a wonderful scene of a single member of the species later referred to as "The Engineers" putting his DNA into the water supply. Cut to modern times, where our hero archaeologist couple finds a cave painting of a giant being pointing to five stars.
Where to start? First, why would this alien being give us a direct clue about where he/she came from? Second, memory isn't passed through DNA, so how would anyone know to draw this? Third, if ancient peoples had the memory passed through the magic DNA, why would no one now have it? I never thought I would utter these words: How they found the pyramid in Alien v. Predator was more realistic than how they found the pyramid in this film. (Shudder.)
2) Biology: The biologist refers to evolutionary theory as "Darwinism", a term used almost exclusively today by creationists trying to paint evolution as a faith rather than science, and rarely used by real scientists. Moreover, he says "300 years of Darwinism" a mere 230 years after the publication of "The Origin of Species".
3) Biology: The DNA of the Engineers is a match with human DNA. This simply makes no sense from a biological perspective. A few million years of evolution and our DNA will be very different simply through random drift and mutation than that of the Engineers. And if the Engineer DNA dump happened more recently, then why do we share 99% of our DNA with chimpanzees again?
4) Linguistics: David speaks the Alien language by studying all of Earth's languages. Again, memory isn't passed through DNA. Moreover, he reads and writes it as well. Now, in the opening scene we do see writing on the lid of the container the Engineer opens at the beginning. But even if someone stumbled across this *single lid in the entire world*, why would that person think that represented writing *before writing was invented*. Any human writing would be independently created, as would our speech. Again, this is just bad writing by someone who wants to ignore what we do know about the evolution of human language.
5) Cartography: The only character who gets lost in the entire film is *the geologist who is specifically mapping the cave system*. He's leading the group in the first part of the story! Heck, I can read an automap, and I don't exactly have a PhD in cartography.
6) Biology: I’ve got a drop of unknown alien substance. Do I a) put it on a slide and stick it under the microscope? b) infect one of the many lab animals brought along for the purpose of testing biological material, c) put it in a Petri dish with Agar nutrient d) attempt to infect one of the two “leaders” of the expedition by *dipping the material first in alcohol* and then tricking the hapless test subject into drinking it, after which lose interest and do not observe the person for the next twelve hours.
7) Medicine: The magic medical machine is a wonderful advance of future technology. It is also utterly ridiculous. Once you have the hardware to preform automated surgery, the rest is simple software. But when Shaw tries to use the machine for an abortion, she is coldly informed that the machine is only set up for male patients. What? My camera card has a 128 gig card in it, and this giant machine only has the procedures for the menfolk downloaded? (This scene was intended as foreshadowing for the return of a character that only people who don't know who Guy Pearce is thought was dead, but it comes across as a pointless restriction on future tech.)
8) Medicine: The self automated surgery is the coolest scene in the film. It is also an affront to human physiology. It occurs too early in the film. After a cut across the abdomen of that length (about 15 inches from what I saw), Shaw could not even stand up without "passing out" levels of pain. But not only does she stand, she walks, and she outruns CGI explosions!
9) Physics: The Engineers space ship is heading away from the pyramid. The Prometheus is heading away from the pyramid. So when they collide, why does the Engineers ship drop straight down right on top of the landing site. Conservation of momentum? Not on this planet!
10) Cybernetics: It's 2012, and we're still not past this "robots have no souls" nonsense. I would think after Bishop, T2, Data, and Scott's own Blade Runner, we'd have moved past this crazy notion that robots can't be moral. (See also, everything Asimov ever wrote about robots.) David is a sentient being who passes the Turing test with flying colors. He's also an amoral jackass. Being a robot doesn't excuse that.
Okay enough ranting. Go see Prometheus for the spectacle of Michael Fassbender and Charlize Theron having a contest to see who can act more inhuman, but when they try to do science, please, don't let your children watch.
Prometheus: 2 out of 5 stars
Friday, March 2, 2012
Gallifrey One
Last weekend was this year's Gallifrey One, the fan run Doctor Who convention in LA. This year I was delighted to see one of my favorite actors, Mark Sheppard, was attending. He blew me away as the lawyer in Romo Lampkin in Battlestar Galactica, and that's when I realized I'd actually seen him quite a lot in earlier roles. X-Files, Invisible Man, Firefly--he'd made all the rounds of sci-fi in small but memorable roles. And then he got the role of Crowley on Supernatural and just took it to the next level.
This latest season of Doctor Who he starred in the first two episodes which meant that he was fair game for an invite to a Doctor Who convention. The favorite part of the convention for me was the live commentary that he did with the director (Toby Haynes.) I did not like everything about that episode, but Sheppard and Haynes' commentary was great--highlighting things I hadn't noticed and giving a unique perspective on the action.
It wasn't until I saw that episode of Doctor Who that I realized that W. Morgan Sheppard and Mark Sheppard were related--father and son. The elder Sheppard is another great character actor who has swept through some great sci-fi. It's irrational, but you always hope that the actors you love to watch are actually as great in person as the characters they play. A wonderful day!
Mark Sheppard and W. Morgan Sheppard answer audience questions at Gallifrey One
Thursday, February 9, 2012
The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
I've been an audience participant at a lot of shows in Orlando but in fifteen years I've never been able to crack the big one: The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular.
Until now.
This past Christmas Eve, I was with my parents celebrating the Disney way, and as evening approached, we wandered on in to the Indy show. The show does three of the most famous scenes from Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Being Christmas Eve, the theater was packed to the gills, it probably holds several thousand people.
That's what makes volunteering for this show so hard! They pick a dozen folks out of a couple thousand, and so you have to bring your A game to be a volunteer. I did my best, wearing a bright red Disneyland shirt, screaming joyfully when he asked for volunteers, and finally got it! And not just any spot, but the coveted "last pick", where you get to let out a primal scream for the crowd. Thanks to my Mom and her trusty Powershot, you can see for yourself!
It was great fun! After the introduction you see above we got our requisite turbans and robes for the Cairo market scene, and got a front row view of the action as the stunt performers worked all around us. Afterwards we received our final parting gift, yes, an official Disneyland cup of water!
Until now.
This past Christmas Eve, I was with my parents celebrating the Disney way, and as evening approached, we wandered on in to the Indy show. The show does three of the most famous scenes from Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Being Christmas Eve, the theater was packed to the gills, it probably holds several thousand people.
That's what makes volunteering for this show so hard! They pick a dozen folks out of a couple thousand, and so you have to bring your A game to be a volunteer. I did my best, wearing a bright red Disneyland shirt, screaming joyfully when he asked for volunteers, and finally got it! And not just any spot, but the coveted "last pick", where you get to let out a primal scream for the crowd. Thanks to my Mom and her trusty Powershot, you can see for yourself!
Official Disney World paper cup
After being a volunteer, we got to return to our seats in time to see the great finale with the out of control airplane and the cool explosions. At that point I was glad that the sun had gone down, fire looks so much cooler at night!
Boom goes the fuel dump
One more surprise came later. During the Christmas Break, a student of mine from Calculus last year wrote me an email to ask if that was really me volunteering at the Indy show. If it was not me, she said "I'm just giving you a heads up that you have a doppelgänger in Claremont." First, major props for use of the word doppelgänger! Second, that's just crazy amazing that one of my students happened to be in the audience. It's a small world after all.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Cranial Activity
This past summer was a good one for seeing cranes! Back in May I visited the International Crane Foundation for the first time. They are one of the few zoos that has all fifteen species of cranes on display. Also, they do a lot of great work getting Whooping Crane population numbers back up. Here's a picture of their enclosure for the Whooping Cranes where one crane was always on the nest while the other was looking for food.
Later that summer I was in Montana. While walking in a field near Anaconda with some family, we disturbed three cranes who immediately took flight. The red heads, black wing tips, and white bodies indicated that these were three more Whooping Cranes! The only thing I can't figure out is the brown splotches on the back since adult Whooping Cranes are pure white. So I believe that these are young cranes, still with some of the brown coloring from their younger days. Any crane experts out there?
Later that summer I was in Montana. While walking in a field near Anaconda with some family, we disturbed three cranes who immediately took flight. The red heads, black wing tips, and white bodies indicated that these were three more Whooping Cranes! The only thing I can't figure out is the brown splotches on the back since adult Whooping Cranes are pure white. So I believe that these are young cranes, still with some of the brown coloring from their younger days. Any crane experts out there?
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Birds do it
One of my grandmother's great joys in her last few years was watching her hummingbird feeder. They still keep it well fed up at the farm, and the birds still love it.
Most of the pictures I took of the Red Ruby Hummingbirds were on continuous shooting mode, which captures about five shots per second. Of course, what goes in must eventually come out. The following frame captures a quick event, a Hummingbird lightening its load. This did not appear in either the preceding or successive frames, so I now know that a Hummingbird can do it's business in under 0.4 seconds!
Most of the pictures I took of the Red Ruby Hummingbirds were on continuous shooting mode, which captures about five shots per second. Of course, what goes in must eventually come out. The following frame captures a quick event, a Hummingbird lightening its load. This did not appear in either the preceding or successive frames, so I now know that a Hummingbird can do it's business in under 0.4 seconds!
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Ken and Jean's Wedding
After the wedding, everyone headed over to Maggie Mae's Barn for some great food. Maggie Mae and her band provided the entertainment at the reception.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Southern California Renaissance Faire
Last Sunday I attended the Renaissance Faire that's about 20 minutes from my house. And what a faire! These folks have clearly been doing this a while. The layout is like a giant snake--so every single stage, shop, and eatery is on the path from the entrance to the joust. They have an NC-17 stage where I spent most of the morning replenishing my levels of bawdiness.
Then it was off to watch Jack the Dagger do some impressive knife throwing. Yes, that blurry grey thing in the middle picture is the knife.
I ended the day by watching the final joust, which was excellent as well. Lots of fighting on both horse and ground. Altogether a wonderful way to spend a day!
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| The Belles of Bedlam |
I ended the day by watching the final joust, which was excellent as well. Lots of fighting on both horse and ground. Altogether a wonderful way to spend a day!
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Catalina Island
California continues to amaze me.
Prior to coming to Claremont as an undergrad, what I knew about California I learned from TV and movies: San Francisco is hilly, Napa Valley has great wine, and Hollywood is full of movie stars. That's what makes my new discoveries of the gems that lie within California all the more exciting.
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| Avalon Harbor viewed from above |
One such gem is the Channel Islands.
Those who pay attention to such things probably have heard of them already. A long ago getaway for movie stars, places such as Catalina Island grew up on the twin pillars of their beauty and mild inaccessibility. Today it is still a gorgeous place to visit, with many plant and animal species that only live on one or more of the Islands, and a wonderful harbor lined with shops, restaurants, and the occasional candy factory.
I went there for the first time with my Mom, who was visiting during her Spring Break. One very exciting thing to do is to take one of the semi-submersible undersea tours: the next best thing to scuba diving. We saw loads of fish during the tour, including the easy to spot Garibaldi.
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| Garibaldi fish in the ocean |
The Island ethos of tourism with conservation was put in place by the Wrigley family, and the Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Gardens is a great way to see many of the plants (and animals!) that only grow on Catalina or other Channel Islands.
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| Mark and Tam in from of a Catalina Mahogany Tree |
The trip back is also a lot of fun. The jet ferry takes about an hour to cover twenty miles of open ocean. Pelicans and seagulls like to follow the wake churned up behind the boat.
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| Pelicans accompanying the ferry ride back |
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Universal Studios Hollywood
I hadn't been to Universal Studios Hollywood since I was an undergraduate in college. What a difference sixteen years makes!
When I last visited with my brother, the Studio Backlot Tour was the only real ride, and even that was very different from any other theme park in the world. The rest of the day you could spend watching stunt shows and other performances, but there were no roller coasters or other big rides.
Since then (like that other theme park), Universal Studios Hollywood has brought over the best ideas and rides from their two Florida Parks. The result is a great way to spend a day. It's still a lot lower key than a Disney adventure--which isn't a bad thing. The Backlot Tour is still the gem in their crown--and with recent updates including a ride through the 3D jungles of Skull Island where Kong battles dinosaurs it is still a favorite of mine.
This time I went with my Mom, who was visiting during her Spring Break. I splurged on the "Front-of-the-line" passes. These helped a bit with the lines to the attractions, but their main benefit was the extras you receive with the shows. Most of the shows had a short Q-and-A session with the actors where they describe some of the behind-the-scenes parts of the show. Lots of fun! Also, there are nice reserved seats for these shows, so you don't have to worry about getting there too early.
When I last visited with my brother, the Studio Backlot Tour was the only real ride, and even that was very different from any other theme park in the world. The rest of the day you could spend watching stunt shows and other performances, but there were no roller coasters or other big rides.
Since then (like that other theme park), Universal Studios Hollywood has brought over the best ideas and rides from their two Florida Parks. The result is a great way to spend a day. It's still a lot lower key than a Disney adventure--which isn't a bad thing. The Backlot Tour is still the gem in their crown--and with recent updates including a ride through the 3D jungles of Skull Island where Kong battles dinosaurs it is still a favorite of mine.
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| Yep--he's still terrorizing Amity Lake |
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| Meeting the cast of Terminator 2:3D |
Monday, March 14, 2011
Pepperdine
Last week I gave a talk in the Natural Science Seminar series at Pepperdine University. Located on the hills above Malibu, they have a spectacular view of the Pacific.
The invite came from Tim Lucas, who got his PhD from Duke in 2006. I had run into Tim a few months earlier at the Joint Math Meetings in New Orleans. The talks at Pepperdine run from 12:00-1:00. So I gave the talk and then we headed out to their cafeteria (with big windows opening on to the ocean.) A great way to spend the day.
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| The view from Pepperdine |
Saturday, February 26, 2011
ElecTRONica
The movie Tron came out when I was 10, and (in between Star Wars sequels) quickly established itself as my favorite movie. 
Almost 30 years later, Tron legacy has his the theatres, and the Disney marketing machine is in full swing. Hooray!
In California Adventure, that means the southwest part of the park has been turned into ElecTRONica. After night falls, a DJ spins up and the End of Line Club comes to life. Even more fun, they have recreated Flynn's Arcade--complete with all the working video games I loved as a kid. Sure, there are lots of ways to play those old games nowadays, but nothing beats the thrill from dropping a token (and they are all 1 token to play) into a cabinet, then dropping it again in to the other slot because one slot isn't working, and then flying that ship/lasering robots/blowing up monsters until the cows come home.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Disneyland at Christmas
I love the Disney parks. They at once appeal to the small child in me, and to the Operation Research trained adult in me--so many people moved efficiently through so many queues--it brings a tear to my eye.This was the first year that I hit Disneyland at Christmas (Disney World I'd been to before). The park is transformed by wonderful lights, but even better, the Haunted Mansion now becomes The Nightmare Before Christmas (go Tim Burton!) for a month. As one of my all time favorite movies, I'd been looking forward to seeing that for a long time, and it did not disappoint. Everything about the ride is transformed, from the opening line to the final entreaty to return. The detail and number of things to watch for is amazing.
Decked out to the nines in giant icicle lights, Cinderella's Castle doesn't look half bad, either!
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Yosemite in winter
This was the second time that I've been to Yosemite in winter and it was equally gorgeous this time around. I was there four nights altogether with my folks and the weather was scary for a while but in the end cooperative.
It rained the first day out, but by the second day that had turned to a lovely snow that blanketed everything. The morning hike to the Lower Yosemite Falls was about as far as you would want to go with that much snow falling. By the next morning, the sun was shining on all that snow, and made every glade and meadow into a beautiful tableau. First we took an early morning tour with a photographer from the Ansel Adams Gallery, then headed off to Mirror Lake.
That night we saw the Bracebridge Dinner--a combination seven course meal and medieval Christmas pageant. It was wonderful, great performances and amazing food. This took place in the main dining hall at the Ahwahnee Hotel, a grand fixture of Yosemite Valley.
The next day the sun was again out, and we headed up to the overlook for Vernal Falls. That proved to be significantly steeper a hike than to Mirror Lake (although roughly the same distance) and so by the end of the day we were happy just to stay put for an hour and try to get some sunset pictures from the middle of the valley. By this time, though, the clouds had rolled in, and fog enshrouded all the major sights.
So the next day we took to the higher elevations, leaving the valley and heading to Tuolumne Grove, where some of the Giant Sequoias stand tall. These trees can live to be thousands of years old and are very impressive up close. The clouds continued to linger throughout the day, although the sun peeked through more at sunset this time.
Our final morning in the valley the skies cleared and the sun shone full force on the Upper Yosemite Falls, giving a wonderful rainbow across the water. El Capitan and the tunnel overlook were also clear as a bell, and made for a great final few hours in Yosemite.
It rained the first day out, but by the second day that had turned to a lovely snow that blanketed everything. The morning hike to the Lower Yosemite Falls was about as far as you would want to go with that much snow falling. By the next morning, the sun was shining on all that snow, and made every glade and meadow into a beautiful tableau. First we took an early morning tour with a photographer from the Ansel Adams Gallery, then headed off to Mirror Lake.
The next day the sun was again out, and we headed up to the overlook for Vernal Falls. That proved to be significantly steeper a hike than to Mirror Lake (although roughly the same distance) and so by the end of the day we were happy just to stay put for an hour and try to get some sunset pictures from the middle of the valley. By this time, though, the clouds had rolled in, and fog enshrouded all the major sights.
So the next day we took to the higher elevations, leaving the valley and heading to Tuolumne Grove, where some of the Giant Sequoias stand tall. These trees can live to be thousands of years old and are very impressive up close. The clouds continued to linger throughout the day, although the sun peeked through more at sunset this time.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
A nice day
It is a gorgeous day outside.
It sometimes surprises me how good that can make me feel. And of course, having a nice sunny day means all sorts of other things are happening. Where I live is next door to one of Claremont McKenna's practice fields, and today the track and field people are practicing the hammer throw.
That is just fun to watch! For those who haven't seen it, the hammer is the event with the 16 pound ball attached to a chain. Watching the throwers spin around and around and just heave that sucker as far as they can reminds you of when you were a kid and just threw things to see how far you could (see also: skipping rocks.)
It doesn't hurt that I know one of the throwers. He's been in my probability, statistics, and Monte Carlo methods courses and is an all around good guy. I wish him luck on the field as the season begins!
It sometimes surprises me how good that can make me feel. And of course, having a nice sunny day means all sorts of other things are happening. Where I live is next door to one of Claremont McKenna's practice fields, and today the track and field people are practicing the hammer throw.
That is just fun to watch! For those who haven't seen it, the hammer is the event with the 16 pound ball attached to a chain. Watching the throwers spin around and around and just heave that sucker as far as they can reminds you of when you were a kid and just threw things to see how far you could (see also: skipping rocks.)
It doesn't hurt that I know one of the throwers. He's been in my probability, statistics, and Monte Carlo methods courses and is an all around good guy. I wish him luck on the field as the season begins!
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Thanksgiving
Nothing beats a Thanksgiving with friends!
This Thanksgiving, Asuman, a professor in my department had myself and two other families over to her house for a great turkey dinner. With eleven people involved, this is more like a day long party than anything else. After polishing off a variety of tasty dishes and desserts, we went up to Mt. Baldy for a hike afterwards. Then those with the skills hit the Backgammon boards, while the more stuffed people like myself just chatted away the afternoon and evening. I know what I'm thankful for: wonderful friends that make life that much sweeter.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Here comes the rain again
This past week was a beautiful: the sun was shining, the temperature was in the mid 70's, and all seemed right with the world. This morning, it's raining.
Yes it does rain in California.
And when it does rain, it tends not to mess around. The forecast shows rain this morning, this afternoon, this evening, and tomorrow. There's even a flash flood alert on top of that for areas of L.A. County that have been recently burned.
I do love watching the rain though. Maybe it goes back to childhood memories of Corvallis where it seemed like it rained every day, or maybe it's just the randomness of the drops, the way it throws light in all directions. Especially on a Saturday, where I don't have anywhere to go and can just relax and watch the water pouring down through my window.
Yes it does rain in California.
And when it does rain, it tends not to mess around. The forecast shows rain this morning, this afternoon, this evening, and tomorrow. There's even a flash flood alert on top of that for areas of L.A. County that have been recently burned.
I do love watching the rain though. Maybe it goes back to childhood memories of Corvallis where it seemed like it rained every day, or maybe it's just the randomness of the drops, the way it throws light in all directions. Especially on a Saturday, where I don't have anywhere to go and can just relax and watch the water pouring down through my window.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Halloween, Rifftrax style
In honor of Halloween and my abiding love of making fun of movies, I headed out to the Rifftrax live event this last Thursday. The movie they riffed was the classic Vincent Price "House on Haunted Hill" a delightful product of its times movie that was perfect for Kevin Murphy, Mike Nelson, and Bill Corbett to go after.
This is the second Rifftrax Live! presentation that I've gone to (the other being their Christmas special last year). The last one was fun, but this one was amazing. Part of the fun is being in a semi-crowded theater. Southern California has enough former MST 3K fans like myself to fill a theater for these types of events, and the fun of seeing them do their shtick live really adds to the laughs.
This is the second Rifftrax Live! presentation that I've gone to (the other being their Christmas special last year). The last one was fun, but this one was amazing. Part of the fun is being in a semi-crowded theater. Southern California has enough former MST 3K fans like myself to fill a theater for these types of events, and the fun of seeing them do their shtick live really adds to the laughs.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Dala
Last Friday, I headed up to Scripps for their once-a-semester free concert on their big lawn. This is part of a series of concerts organized by a Scripps Alum, Elizabeth Levitt Hersch '74. Part giving back to Scipps, part advertisement for the Levitt Pavillions, this is always a well-organized nice event. Performing this time were Dala, an acoustic folk duo from Canada.
They were awesome! I have to admit, my consumption of folk has dropped dramatically since leaving North Carolina, so it was nice to get a booster. Lovely harmonies and an easy back-and-forth between two friends made for a wonderful concert. The concert setting itself was also very nice--by setting the time from 5:30-7:00, there was a pretty transition from day to night while they played. And they even gave chairs and/or blankets to everyone. A great way to start the weekend!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
A week in Warsaw
The first night in Warsaw, I met up with some friends, Galin and James, and headed out to Old Town. Warsaw's Old Town is in fact quite new: almost every building was destroyed in WWII, and meticulously recreated in every detail. The result is like nothing else: a modern medieval city with incredible artwork and detail adorning stonework that is mere decades old.
The Royal Palace managed to save some of their most impressive art, including four of the thrones used by kings of Poland. The audiotour is great: it includes headphones (no holding up a weighty device to your ear), and each room has a main number, with extra numbers reserved for specific items of interest.
The next day (before the conference), we headed out to the center of town and the Warsaw Uprising Museum. This contains artifacts from the desparate days near the end of WWII. The Red Army was
encamped outside the city, and with the hope of reclaiming the city the local resistance tried to expel the Nazi forces. But Stalin had other ideas, and his army sat while the German first retook the city block by block and building by building, and then waited further as Hitler systematically destroyed all the important buildings in retaliation. The Uprising Museum tells this story through artefacts, letters, photos, and even film taken by the Poles. An immersive, moving museum.
From there we headed westward to the National Museum. This containsone of the largest collection of medieval religious wood carvings that I have seen with intricate detail very well preserved. And the paintings by the Polish also reveals a deep artistic tradition.
On Wednesday, the conference organized an excursion: A guided tour through the Old Town followed by dinner in another gallery. The dinner was great, and was accompanied by a concert by a trio of women on piano, clarinet, and flute.
Friday was the last day of the conference, and again the afternoon became a sightseeing opportunity. The Palace of Culture and Science (Stalin's "gift" to the Polish people) looms massively in the center of town, and the terrace offers great views of the city.
One corner of the Palace houses the Museum of Technology, a history spanning from the paleolithic to modern times. Automotive, radio, electronic, and typewriter fans will find much to love in their exhibits, and the basic science experiments are quite cool.
Finally, we swung through Old Town for some picture taking. What a lovely place!
The Royal Palace managed to save some of their most impressive art, including four of the thrones used by kings of Poland. The audiotour is great: it includes headphones (no holding up a weighty device to your ear), and each room has a main number, with extra numbers reserved for specific items of interest.
The next day (before the conference), we headed out to the center of town and the Warsaw Uprising Museum. This contains artifacts from the desparate days near the end of WWII. The Red Army was
encamped outside the city, and with the hope of reclaiming the city the local resistance tried to expel the Nazi forces. But Stalin had other ideas, and his army sat while the German first retook the city block by block and building by building, and then waited further as Hitler systematically destroyed all the important buildings in retaliation. The Uprising Museum tells this story through artefacts, letters, photos, and even film taken by the Poles. An immersive, moving museum.
From there we headed westward to the National Museum. This containsone of the largest collection of medieval religious wood carvings that I have seen with intricate detail very well preserved. And the paintings by the Polish also reveals a deep artistic tradition.
On Wednesday, the conference organized an excursion: A guided tour through the Old Town followed by dinner in another gallery. The dinner was great, and was accompanied by a concert by a trio of women on piano, clarinet, and flute.
Friday was the last day of the conference, and again the afternoon became a sightseeing opportunity. The Palace of Culture and Science (Stalin's "gift" to the Polish people) looms massively in the center of town, and the terrace offers great views of the city.
One corner of the Palace houses the Museum of Technology, a history spanning from the paleolithic to modern times. Automotive, radio, electronic, and typewriter fans will find much to love in their exhibits, and the basic science experiments are quite cool.
Finally, we swung through Old Town for some picture taking. What a lovely place!
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