Eleventh Hour

Gravity and I have watched some of the new TV shows (The Mentalist, My Own Worst Enemy, Eleventh Hour) and our favorite is Eleventh Hour. It is a very well done show where a scientist works with the FBI to solve science related crimes. There is also a female FBI agent assigned to protect him and this situation has given a few instances of comic relief. very good show and highly recommended especially to those of you who like science.

Sleep Disorders Redux

Gravity placed a post on his blog about sleep disorders that is really interesting. It triggered some additional thoughts in me.

Remember the Ambien stories where people who had taken Ambien were driving cars while asleep and cooking breakfast at 2 AM while completely asleep? Well, I wonder if Ambien creates REM Sleep Behavior Disorder in people who do not actually have REM Sleep Behavior Disorder naturally! Interesting. Some day we actually might know the answers to all of these questions.

One of Our Favorite Authors

One of Gravity's and October's favorite authors died yesterday. Michael Crichton was 66. Many people probably did not even understand that Jurassic Park was primarily about chaos mathematical theory and that the dinosaurs were only used to demonstrate the math theory. His research was awe-inspiring to say the least! We will miss your books. Fond farewell.

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October says:

My two favorite books of his are Andromeda Strain and the little known The Great Train Robbery which is based on an actual train robbery in England. Both of these books are very well researched and written. Andromeda Strain was actually written while Crichton was in medical school. I like both of the films produced from both of theses book, too. It could be because Crichton was heavily involved with both of these films, too. I will miss his books.

Web Users Beware!

Are "private" blogs actually private? Many say not so. How could they be as it is impossible to secure a world wide web. The other day I found this out on Google:

"Saturday, July 26, 2008. Starting again. I've become really interested in crocheting again. I finally found a pattern for a..."

This is from a blog that is supposed to be private! Web users beware. Nothing is actually private. Privacy is best left to the phone...no that does not work; best left to the US mail system...no that does not work either; and definitely not email. Oh well, there is just no privacy. Everyone is constantly spying on everyone else. So, just hang loose and go with the flow. Be happy -- don't worry.

Voted

Gravity and I both just voted. We voted cross-party; i.e., we voted for people from multiple parties not just following the party line. Hope everyone else votes too! Esh, and his roommate, are not old enough

Surprise Candidates

What a surprise. There are six groups of two running for President and Vice President!

President and Vice President
Statewide
Chuck Baldwin and Darrell L. Castle
Independent Green
http://www.baldwin08.com
President and Vice President
Statewide
Bob Barr and Wayne A. Root
Libertarian
http://www.libertarianparty.com
President and Vice President
Statewide
John McCain and Sarah Palin
Republican
http://www.johnmccain.com
President and Vice President
Statewide
Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente
Green
President and Vice President
Statewide
Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez
Independent
http://www.votenader.org
President and Vice President
Statewide
Barack Obama and Joe Biden
Democrat
http://www.barackobama.com

Fun At College

One of Esh's many gifts is the ability to make friends. People just love him! (Gravity and I must have done it all correctly!) Every time we talk with him over the phone, he tells us delightful tales of adventure and fun. He and several of his friends are applying to Brown Residence College at UVA. It is like a college within a university. It is limited to only 300 students so the process is very selective; but Esh already has Friends who live at Brown and they are encouraging him to apply.

One interesting thing about Esh's friends is that they cover the complete scope of grades at UVA; and they include boys and girls. When Esh was in HS his guidance counselor once told me that everyone liked Esh. She said this was unusual with gifted kids as they often act as if they were entitled to treat others badly because they were bright. Well, Esh keep up the good work! And good luck getting into Brown Residence College!

Seasons Survey

The other day, I was thinking about how wonderful autumn was as it is my favorite season; and how glad I was that summer, my least favorite season, had finally ended. Then I began to wonder how many people were influenced in choosing their favorite season based on the conclusion of their least favorite season – a type of “Ah ha” feeling of relief. I began to ask people – friends, family, people at my veterinarian, a class of students at UVA, my hairdresser, etc. It appears that my initial thought might be correct. The sample size for the survey was far too small to be statistically valid, but, none the less, it is interesting. Following are the results of this very small survey.

Results:

Based on the repeating sequence of four seasons, the normal statistical occurrence of favorite and least favorite occurring adjacent to each other would occur about 50% of the time. Of this 50%, half would have the least favorite preceding the favorite with an overall result of 25% of the time. The chart below shows what would be expected if no influence occurred between the choice of favorite and least favorite seasons; i.e. they were random in occurrence.

Favorite and least favorite not adjacent -- 50%
Favorite preceding least favorite -- 25%
Least favorite preceding favorite -- 25%

The results gathered from the survey varied greatly from what would be expected based on typical random choices as listed above. The survey results are below.

Least favorite preceding favorite -- 57%
Favorite preceding least favorite -- 16.5%
Favorite and least favorite not adjacent (exclusively summer/winter) -- 16.5%
Not familiar with four seasons -- 10%

Definitely, the occurrence of the least favorite season prior to the favorite season must have some significance. Whether the influence is the “Thank goodness that season has finally ended!” effect would have to be determined from an additional survey; but the results of my brief and small survey results are clear. Many people’s favorite season follows their least favorite one. It is definitely true with me.

Youth at College

This weekend we found out that Esh's roommate is younger, too. Esh turns 17 in a few days and his roommate turns 18 in January. They will be the same age for two months.

Mrs. Butterworth To The Rescue

If Obama gets into the White House, he will need one of the Geico spokes-people to help decide what to do. Mrs. Butterworth is so happy and positive she would be a good choice.

Chinese Cabbage Soup

Bok choi, tenderloin strips, water chesternut slices, mushrooms, tamari sauce, chicken broth, carrots, leeks, snow peas, Napa cabbage. Yum.

UVA Family Weekend

This weekend is Family Weekend at UVA. We went up to C'ville and took Esh out to lunch. Then we wen to see Grandma L and Uncle C and Aunt F, October's long-term friend. It was a good day. It was good to see Esh, meet some of his suite-mates, see L, C, and F. Truly a family weekend.

Great Gas

I got great gas today for my sports car. 93 octane gas here was $2.78 per gallon at a Shell station. Nice.

Autumn Soup Again

Ah...Autumn. Time for my autumn soup again and indeed, we had it this past weekend. For the first time, I added some left-over steak and it was indeed a nice addition.

So what goes into my autumn soup? Always chicken broth, butternut squash, tomatoes, canned black eyed peas, carrots, onions, salt and pepper, and fresh young spinach. For the rest of the soup, I look at what is good at the store. This means that sometimes I also add zucchini, fresh peas, canned fresh kidney beans, canned diced tomatoes, turnips, potatoes, meat, corn, flesh black eyed peas, and the kitchen sink (kidding of course -- it never looks tasty enough!)

I think next I will try to develop a soup for each season. I also want to develop a Sukiyaki soup. Love bok choi!

Esh Is Sick

Poor Esh. He has one of those phlegmy icky things; but he is not alone. the entire suite of 10 boys has the phlegmy icky thing! We have offered to pick him up and redeliver home if he gets to the point of wanting the things that home has to offer that dorms do not -- fires in the fireplace, a soaking tub, people to feed you in bed, animals to comfort you and most of all -- quiet. Dorms are never quiet except maybe when everyone is sick. Our love to Esh. Tomorrow might be better!

Favorite Season

Yesterday, something occurred to me about favorite seasons. Do they always follow people's least favorite season?

As an example, my favorite season is autumn. My least favorite season is summer. Gravity is close on liking all seasons but his least favorite is probably winter and his slightly most favorite is spring.

Today at the grocery store, I asked people. Two people said that their favorite was spring and their least favorite is winter!

It makes sense. After your ;east favorite season you get a very welcome change; and that season becomes your most favorite.

Midterms

Esh called today to say that midterms are going well. He is dropping one of the physics classes as he is too busy with grading for 19 credits. Gravity and i have no problem with this decision what-so-ever. Luv ya Esh.

Meridian

The following poem is from UVA's magazine Meridian.

by Victoria Chang

Dear P.,

Last night I buried you alive in my
sheets. Tonight I drop you and you
shatter into thousands of crystals.
They spill between the poplars, wake
them by the hundreds. I crawl and
collect them one by one. But when
I touch one, the ground becomes
the night sky, the crystals turn into stars.
I become the pine that stretches over
the lake, reaching for your reflections.

Hoody for Pearl

One of our family's sweetest members went to the vet today and came back collared. She had licked a spot on her foot into a problem. The collar will prevent her from doing more licking. She is miserable but she is adjusting. She has to wear it for a month. Long time.

Happy 50th

Happy B-day Paddington Bear!

Home Sweet Home

Esh was home this weekend and spent hours and hours with his friends here. For a short while, they were here. I was told that our house was exactly what they wanted when they got a house! Wow, what a compliment. It makes me very happy. I am so happy that Esh had a good weekend, too! Now...back to college and back to work. Love ya!

Barney Gets Stuck

The electronics genius on the MI team is called Barney. In tonight's show, while stealing plutonium and trying narrowly not to get caught, Barney went in and out of elevator shafts probably a dozen times. You could say, he really got the shaft in this show!

National AP Scholar

Esh got another award in the mail this week. The College Board AP program has named him a National Scholar!! Hooray, Esh! This is the highest AP Honor available for US citizens. Wahoo.

Autumnal Foods

Somewhere along the line I began to associate foods with the different seasons. The minute the air gets crispy with a chill, I begin to think about apples and squash with brown sugar and nuts; and pot roast and cherry pie. The aroma of pot roast or turkey cooking fills a house with extra warmth and comfort. i guess it all goes back to the fact that we are animals jut like all of the other wonderful creatures on Earth.

Harvard Law School Changes

From Cavlier Daily:

"So when Harvard Law School decided this past week to overhaul its entire grading system, it was a big deal. To put it concisely, faculty will no longer give letter grades, instead offering a modified pass-fail method with four possible marks: Honors, Pass, Low Pass, and Fail. Traditionally, most law schools have used the same grading system we’re familiar with here at the University, with letter grades and pluses and minuses. When and where this practice changes, if it does, a legal education and its job placement sequence could change fundamentally.

There are reasons to believe a widespread changeover won’t happen. For one, HLS isn’t pioneering this trend, but is simply switching to a style of grading that Yale Law School has used since the 1960s. Additionally, Stanford Law announced in May that it would take up this method. In that sense, it isn’t a revolutionary idea; it’s been around for a while. Still, you can bet that if Harvard is altering its game, other schools will give pass-fail a second look. "

VA Leaves MD In The Dust

From the Cavalier Daily:

"Cavs leave Terrapins shell-shocked in victory --Cavalier offense, defense fire on all cylinders to shut out Maryland 31-0....In Virginia’s 31-0 dismantling of Maryland Saturday, Cavalier fans cheered themselves hoarse..."

Great video highlights.

Honors List

On the honors list is our Esh!! BIG Congrats!

B Rated Disasters

Most of the day, Gravity and I have worked. Gravity is working on a project that is about to wrap-up and I am learning Photoshop CS3 so I can edit the photos for my next two class projects more efficiently.

In the background, we have had the SciFi Channel on. All day they have been running B-rated disaster movies. It has been hysterical. First there was a massive volcanic eruption, then an atomic tornado and now a black hole is consuming the Earth! Wow....and all in one day.

Ghost Dogs at Moon Lake

We finished Secret of the Scarlet Hand, a mystery involving Mayan culture. So onward to Ghost Dogs at Moon Lake! We have arrived to find our hostess gone and the house was attacked by BIG dogs with green eyes the very first night!!

Gas Shock

I got a shock at the gas pump when I filled up today. I have been hearing horror stories of long, LONG gas lines and prices over $5! Nothing had prepared me for what I experienced. My car takes 93 octane so you can imagine what I was prepared for. I just stared at the gas station and the sign out front. There were no lines and even 93 octane was only $3.93 per gallon.......... The best kind of shock.

Wetlands

When is a wetland a bog or a swamp or a fen or a marsh? According to my math book, the classification is based on the pH levels of the water in the wetland.

I became curious so I checked Wikipedia. Along with other classifiactions, pH is indedd one factor for classification. "A bog or mire is a wetland type that accumulates acidic peat" according to the Wikigod. "Fens are characterized by their water chemistry, which is neutral or alkaline." "A salt marsh is a type of marsh that is a transitional intertidal between land and salty or brackish water..." Interesting stuff in math books!

Darden Cmmerce School at UVA

The Darden school of buisness at UVA weighed in on our current financial woes. Following is an article for UVA Today News blog.

"Darden Panel On Financial Market Crisis

I made the mistake this morning of looking at my 401k online. Big mistake. Big, big, big, super-big mistake. And with that in mind, the Darden School of Business held a panel discussion last week to discuss the current turmoil in the financial markets. You can read about the discussion here, or click below to watch a Youtube version. Some great insight into what’s behind all the Wall Street turmoil."

UVA In Space

From UVA Today blog:

"U.Va. Alum On Space Shuttle Mission

Congrats to Leland Melvin, a U.Va. alum (MSE ‘91), who was just named to the NASA Crew for Space Shuttle Discovery’s STS-129 Mission — a space shuttle launch targeted for October 2009.
Melvin flew as a mission specialist on the STS-122 mission in 2008. He was born in Lynchburg, Va. Melvin earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Richmond and a master’s degree in materials science engineering from the University of Virginia. He was selected as an astronaut in 1998.

For more on Melvin, here’s a link to his official NASA bio. Fun fact: Melvin was drafted in the 11th round of the NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions in 1986."

Courtesy of XKCD

UVA Rooms on the Lawn

Lawn Rooms

Via UVAToday Blog there was a good article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch on Friday about some minor historic renovations that are being down to the 104 rooms on the Lawn and Range.

Today Visits UVA

The Today show visited UVA! Watch the video.

Nemesis Ad

I have a "Nemesis Ad". Every time it comes on , I cringe. It has a woman on it that talks about having to "cath" with this deep Southern accent. It is really creepy!
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P.S. When I just spell checked this post, "cath" flagged as a non-existent word. Hah! I thought so!

US Rowing Team

In my class at UVA is a member of the US rowing team that went to China! What an honor to share a class with such a highly accomplished young woman. UVA is such a good school.

Happy Autumn

Happy autumn 2008!!!

Invisibility

On The Today Show they were just talking about the various Peter Petrelli action figures. Apparently there is an invisible one. Al Roker said, it is actually a bomb as it must be an empty box. That made me think of a part of one of the Harry Potter books where the bookstore got in the book for one class, The Book of Invisibility but then they could never find them.

The odd thing is, we actually have a working model of invisibility, something akin to an invisibility cloak. Sometimes I think my glasses have become invisible because i can't find them without wearing them!

CERN (or LHC) Rap

Here is a great educational rap song about the Large Hadron Collider!

http://www.vimeo.com/1431471?pg=embed&sec=1431471

Esh Is Home

Esh is home tonight, and tomorrow, we will drive Ian back to UVA. He got a raise. $13 per hour is not bad for a first job at 16! He is enjoying school a lot. His Sanskrit teacher he says is the best teacher he has ever had. He has study groups for two classes. He looks great and seems happy. The dorms are hot but cooler weather is beginning to happen.
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Gravity adds:

Esh is also listed as a teacher in the conceptual physics class for which he is a grader!
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October adds:

Esh slept 10 hours too
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Gravity adds:

It was nice to have him home but also to see that he was eager to get back to School and friends.

Cavalier Daily Online

The Cavalier Daily is now online.. Enjoy comics, commentaries and news stories on your PC!

http://www.cavalierdaily.com/

New UVA Blog

UVA has a new blog -- a news blog. We have added it our links.

http://uvatoday.org/blog/

Women and Blacks

I remember Nicelle Nichols saying years ago that she as very proud of being on Star Trek because it portrayed her as a powerful black woman who was an officer on a space ship; this was true. As I mentioned before, Gravity and I are watching old Mission Impossible TV shows; we are on season two. Towards the end of season one I began to realize that these old shows (1966 to 1973) do an even better portrayal of blacks, and additionally, women. The members of the MI team are all totally professional -- no even hints of romance. Greg Morris, the shows' black team member, is the master engineer and gadgets whiz -- an absolute genius who can make and create anything based on principals of physics and chemistry. The teams' woman (played by Barbara Bain) portrays a former model with an eidetic memory and who never needs to be rescued by the men. She thinks fast and quickly with brilliance. Both women and blacks are portrayed in a more flattering light than often done today when few shows don't eventually run amok with romance. The new MI movies pale in many ways to the old shows with the shows' plot lines being based on valor, honesty and love of country; and the focus on a team instead of one man (yuk - Tom Cruise). Please someone, turn the old shows into current MI movies!

Nightly Glow

For the past week (amazingly enough it has been a week!), there has been a nice warm glow in the kitchen at night when we go to bed. The oven light switch no longer works; and, believe it or not, the oven bulb is still working! It makes sense that it could break as it is a simply on-off mechanical switch yet neither of us has heard of the switch breaking before. A new one is on order so it will either be fixed soon or the bulb will burn out and then it will get switched. in the meantime, if we sneak down the stairs, we might find three cats basking in the glow at 2 AM.

Irony

Gravity and I are still watching old Mission Impossible shows. the one tonight is about counterfeiting money. Martin Landau explains to a corrupt banker that he has created the counterfeit via a computer, by copying. Ha! Could this show be where all of the counterfeiter got the idea? [Of course, Greg Morris was sitting inside what was supposed to be a computer. Peter Graves fed sheets into the front of the "computer, Greg Morris then took printed sheets from a stack done ahead of time and fed them out of the front of the "computer". It was hysterical!]
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Gravity Adds,

In my computer, when it is working well, I have a small gnome.
When it is not working well I have a gremlin.

That explains it all!