Trick Or Treaters

This year has been a busy one at the front door! As our house is set back quite a distance from the road and most of the houses are far apart from each other, sometimes the kids do not want to go the distance to our door. Maybe it is the warm weather but we have had one prisoner, two witches (even one modern one), Darth Vader, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, a Nerd, two princesses, two run-aways, a salt and a pepper shaker, and a ninja so far. We are handing out Snickers, Skittles, Starbursts, and one Krackel (leftover after we ravaged one package of candy earlier). Our cat, Mark Twain, has been great. He is a big black cat and has been going up to the door, standing on his haunches, stretching full length to greet the visitors.

Dark Energy

One of the physicists on the Cosmic Variance blog is giving a talk on Halloween about Dark Energy at SLAC. In the write-up on the blog the author states: "...intended for a general audience with no particular knowledge of the contents of the Universe." Well, count me in. How much do we know about the Universe anyway? Our knowledge is constantly shifting and changing. The minute we think we know it all, that's when we discover something else, and we begin to realize that the more we know, the more we realize how much more there is to know!

Slow

It is so nice of society to tell people that slow children are in an area playing. I guess it is not a surprise that these children then grow up to be slow men and that they work. Nor is it much of a shock that these slow men drive slow trunks that enter roads. But why do they put it all on road signs?

Science Blog

I found a great science blog via an article in CalTech's magazine.

http://www.scienceblogs.com/channel/life-science/

The article also mentioned the following blog written by physicists.

http://cosmicvariance.com/

Isn't the blogosphere fun?

Simple Math

If people do not believe that mathematics is simple,it is only because they do not realize how complicated life is.

JOHN VON NEUMAN

Plane Geometry

Let's give ourselves a simple problem. We have two lines on a plane and they never intersect. Are they parallel?

I'm not looking for a solution but here is my quandry. We first make the assumption that they are on a plane. The Plane is made up of parallel lines. How do we know that? In other words, isn't it a circular problem. Don't you have to have lines that are "nowhere" first. Prove the original problem and then use that to construct a plane, and then have problems that refer to a plane?

Because if I make the assumption I'm on a plane, I'm already making assumptions about lines.

Am I making any sense or have I just not drunk enough coffee yet?

(Note: I am not a geometer, don't play one on TV and did not sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night.)

Favorite 888 things to do

2010

We are doing list and it is great fun!

So...five things you would like to do in your life before the year 2010!

The Future of Therapy

I can see it now. No receptionist, no chairs, not even making appointments. The future of therapy is in blogging. You can put all of your thoughts and feelings down when you want to, at any time of the day. You can even do it in complete privacy, like a locked diary, with only you getting access to the blog. You can read everything later to assess where you have been and use this to determine where you are going. You can even role-play as it is all on the Internet (but the FBI might be watching...). And it is all free of charge! The future of therapy.

Whacko Temps

Our lows are higher than our average highs. The highs are two months behind with no end in sight. And everything dry as a bone. At least the lows are not higher than the highs!

Favorite 5

What are your five favorite movies?

Esh's top five are: Lord of the Rings trilogy, original Star Wars trilogy, 2001, A Space Odyssey, House of Flying Daggers, and Being There.

October's favorite five: The Fifth Element, A River Runs Through It, Sneakers, Forrest Gump, and House of Flying Daggers.

Gravity's fave-five are : Das Boot, Terminator 2, A Bridge Too Far, Sneakers, and The Fifth Element.

Spinning Lady

This is cool. I see her spinning counter-clockwise. What do you see?

http://www.switched.com/2007/10/15/the-trippiest-optical-illusions-on-the-net/

Dimensions

If a point has no dimensions yet a line, one dimension, can contain an infinite number of points, then does zero + zero + zero.... = 1? And does it make sense that lines that are one-dimensional would intersect at a point that has no dimension?

Dream state

I had a dream (no! not Martin Luther King), and in my dream I dreamt that I dreamt that I had a certain dream before, which I had not.

So it was not a dream I had had before but a dream where I dreamt I had had a certain dream before.

That was a weird new one for me.

Anybody else? Again, not the same dream, but dreaming you had a certain dream as some other dream before; but you never the other dream before.

Sound confusing? You should be the one trying to explain it.

By the way does the number 42 sound familiar to anyone (odd question-I know)?

1984

Wednesday evening we all went to see a stage adaptation of George Orwell's book, 1984. It was at University of Richmond. Not a play for conservative people as one woman partially undresses (you see her naked back only), the acting, stage set, and sound effects were superb. Many of the actors were from various TV shows and movies and the play had been directed by Tim Robbins. Adapting the book to the stage meant a rather "stilted" script. Passages that read okay in the book lead to antiquated lines embedded in a contemporary play. It was an overall worthwhile experience. Interesting to see actors we had just seen in episodes of Monk and Heroes live on stage. We are planning on going back for MacBeth in November.

Favorite Tree

On the way to Charlottesville, while admiring the increasing yellows and oranges, I thought about my favorite tree. My favorite tree types are maples. I love the shape of the leaves and the variety of colors that they turn in the fall. Their overall pear-shape is very pleasing to me. Their trunks are smooth and a wonderful shape of warm gray. As a child, I would take the seed pods that they produce in the spring , separate the ends and attach it to the end of my nose. Yum to the syrup they give us for our pancakes and waffles and hot oatmeal! They make absolutely wonderful Bonsai.

What is your favorite tree? And then go find one of them and give it a hug!

Old TV Shows

Some years ago, we started to purchase old TV shows and watch them. I believe that it began with a British series called "The Prisoner" and lately, we have watched "The Muppet Show". The shows have survived the years and are now on DVD.

"The Prisoner" was a great early sci-fi show that was made at about the same time as "The Avengers". British spies are held captive in this village where everyone is assigned a number that matches their apartment number. Two things have stuck in my mind since I watched this show as a teenager. The first is that if any of the spies try to leave the village, a gigantic bubble floats out from somewhere(???) and swallows them up. They awake back in their assigned apartment. The other thing I remembered over the years is a life-size chess set. The prisoners are assigned chess piece positions. The two players sit in tall chairs (like they use in Wimbledon tennis matches for the primary judges) and tell the pieces where to move with each play.

"The Avengers" is an old black and white, and later color, British sci-fi show. The plots were usually extremely weird and the women could defend themselves with martial arts. The female star also wore cool black leather outfits!

"The Muppet Show" is absolutely delightful! With creatures that come in all different colors and species, Jim Henson's sense of humor is one of a kind. Some examples are: "Kermit, Kermit I have a wire for you." "Okay, hand it to me." And Fozie the bear hands Kermit the frog some wire. Hahahaha! "Kermit, Kermit. I have a letter for you." "Okay. Give it to me so I can read it." And Fozie hands Kermit a large green capital "R". Love it!

"Northern Exposure" is a show about a NY doctor who ends up living in a small Alaskan town right after graduating medical school. Rich characterization and culture clashes fill this show. We have enjoyed all six seasons completely. Wonderfully funny show.

We also have "The Best of Laugh-In" with an incredibly young Goldie Hawn in the cast. The first season of "Picket Fences" has been released and we have finished it. Set in a small Wisconsin town, the program deals with a variety of social issues often with great humor and staunch opinions. "Soap" is a humorous take-off on soap operas!

Old programs are great; and even our youngest family member, who is seeing them for the first time, enjoys discovering the various reasons why someone somewhere decided that the show was worth releasing on DVD.

The Internet

It is truly amazing how dependent we have become in our household on the Internet. I know because our DSL is having problems! We can log onto the DSL and usually onto the Internet only to be kicked off minutes later. At least we do not have the old modem sounds accompanying the experience...... "@#####$%$#@@@$^^&&*__))**^&^%*("

Squirrels Everywhere

As we left the nieghborhood yesterday, squirrels kept running out in the road. All of them made their trips safely but they were truly everywhere. Is it because of the drought? Or are they sensing a rough winter ahead?

Dust

Only a few hours after dusting there seems to be a layer on everything again. Do we have more dust than ages ago?

As I drive down the highway, you can see trees react every time a semi-truck goes by them. The trees sway in the wind created by the trucks. This has to create more dust in the air. Or how about the man in the yard with the leaf blower who is surrounded by a cloud of dust as he works? Air conditioning and central heat constantly stir the air so that dust remains suspended. Could it be that when we think we are getting the dusty layers up there is still tons more dust waiting in the air of our homes; waiting to settle on the stack of books or the mantle?

Then I think of horses cantering down the roads of yesterday and...maybe we have less dust. Anyway, I think I will sneeze at all of these thoughts of dust!

Smells

With the touch of fall in the air, it was time yesterday for autumnal foods to begin. I made pot roast. When GW came in from outside, he said, "You can smell the pot roast all the way outside! It smells great."

What is it about some smells? They can get your saliva flowing so that you can almost taste the food. For awhile, both GW and I lived in the same area of the city although we did not know each other at that time. There was both a Wonder Bread factory and an FFV cookie factory nearby. The smells would waft across the atmosphere, assail my nostrils and make me run out and buy Hostess cup cakes! Every time they baked anything, I would gain a pound. I think the smell of something with rich chocolatey goodness gets me the most!