January 28, 2005
corcega sunset
Just came back from PR. I was only there 5 days, but in between putting out fires with the contractor and haggling with Casas Miliangie, I was able to take a couple of pics at the beach...
January 21, 2005
To sleep, perchance to dream
Fascinating - some guy in Ukraine hasn't slept in 20 years
I like sleeping, but I'd trade it in for the 6-8 hours a day I spend doing it, if there were no consequences. It'd be like extending your lifespan by 30%.
Of course, if this ever became feasible, I'm sure the Corporations would eventually figure out how to make you work those extra hours too (I already pretty much work 90% of my waking hours).
As an aside, I recently was afforded an interesting glimpse into how dreams work. The other day, my younger called out for me in the middle of the night, interrupting a typical, muddled dream. It turned out he was woken by a dream, so as I often do to calm him down, we traded dreams. After he explained his dream, sorta, I tried to explain mine.
I started telling him one version, then I recalled there was another 'version' going on simultaneously. I stopped and tried to figure out what was going on - and then it hit me:
My dream wasn't some linear storyline: it was a bunch of jumbled thoughts, images and sound, all occurring a once, in parallel. When I tried to put together a story for my kid, I was picking thoughts and images that seemed to form a story, but that was an artifact of my waking minds attempt. The actual dream was just a juxtaposition of seemingly random, simultaneous images.
I'm no neuro-anything, but here is what I bet is going on: at some stage of the sleeping process (whatever stage my kid interrupted), my brain was in what control engineers call open-loop mode (i.e. no feedback, such as perhaps conscious thought, controlling it). Once I awoke, my linear, time oriented consciousness tried to apply structure to it. I suspect this usually works just fine, and produces what I later recall as a dream. In this one instance, I caught my consciousness red handed though, before it was able to do its trick.
January 20, 2005
New Toy
Santa Claus was nice to me this year: he (or she, I suspect :) put a Canon EOS 300D digital SLR under the tree. I really haven't had time to take many photos yet, but I did take one on a dog walk the other morning, and made this picture (I also photographed a deer I happened to encounter in the fog).
What do I think about the camera?
1. It doesn't work miracles - you're still subject to the inherent limitations of photography. It does pretty much lift all the limitations I'd previously encountered in digital photography.
2. Taking pictures in dimly lit, early morning fog is hard without a tripod.
3. Taking said pictures while a hundred pound puppy is dragging you around is impossible. The few pictures I was able to take were shake-cancelling coincidental dog tugs.
January 19, 2005
Why I love Flickr
Flickr: Monterey Aquarium Cliches
This is a group for pictures of the Monterey Aquarium jellyfish and circular anchovy displays.Other pictures from the aquarium should only be posted if they have a very high cliche potential.
The members of this group should also strive to promote photography of these displays among future visitors of the aquarium, and aim to revisit themselves, and add to this photo pool full of magnificent creatures.
I proudly contributed my 10 or so cliched photos of iridescent jellys.
Perspective
Ok, first read a little of this.
According to a Bush interview with The Washington Post, if you have a problem with the war in Iraq, tough. Bush said he saw no reason to hold any administration officials accountable for mistakes or misjudgments made in pre-war planning."We had an accountability moment, and that's called the 2004 elections," Bush said. "The American people listened to different assessments made about what was taking place in Iraq, and they looked at the two candidates, and chose me."
And that's Bush's best tack for his massive blunder: put it back on you. If you voted for Bush, it's your war, too.
Done reading? Good. Now click here.
Don't Worry! FOXCNNMSBNC has us covered!
I feel all warm and tingly when I think about our brave media, keeping a watchful eagle eye over us. They know me better than I know myself. If course I'd rather spend all my time watching Petersonjacksonswifboatrathergate. I'm so glad they protect me from uncomfortable, icky news, like the 34 Bush scandals that where worse than Watergate. Thinking hurts.
Thank you, Murdoch. Thank you Rush.
January 18, 2005
Teh Intarweb is a big, big place
Search long enough, and you can find anything:
So as you read this, don't weep for America. The America we grew up in, the America we thought we were fighting to establish for Him, has long been gone. And by the time the Lord's judgment is come on this land it will be for justice! Of course if it happened today it would be well deserved. But there are many more abominations to come in this country and then His final judgment will come.
(this is one of the milder passages in a bible-quote-ridden rant called "The Destruction of America in One Hour")
I don't get people that think this way, and yet the fact remains: there are people who think this way. I understand the bell-shaped curve, the distribution of averages. There will always be outliers (and by 'outliers' I mean 'nuts'). What concerns me is that the bell is moving in the wrong direction. Magical thinking is on the rise, learning and science are openly disparaged in American culture.
In a way, I agree with the above quoted ranter: if we continue our wicked ways (and by 'wicked', I mean willfully ignorant and stupid), we will be judged Soon Enough (and by 'judged', I mean speee-anked by forward thinking cultures which place a high value on intellectual achievement).
January 17, 2005
January 14, 2005
Poor kids
kid o : Modern Design for Children
Our taste runs to the modern/euro/minimalist - I would love to live in this house. In fact, when we were looking for beach house designs, this was close to our ideal (except that artsy houses cost 3-4x per square foot, so much for artsy).
I wouldn't make my kids play with it, though.
Actually, when I think about it, my agedashi-tofu-loving, kayaking, skiing, halo2-playing, peacemongering, startbux-cocoa-sipping-while-parents-kick-back-the-conpannas kids might dig it...
Why the internet rocks
I just discovered del.icio.us (the cleverest URL ever) - I know, I know, I'm not the swiftest, saviest interneter. It rocks, though.
Tell me what you bookmark, and I'll tell you who you are...
(except, I'm just starting to move my bookmarks, so don't judge me yet :)
Ok, now I'm creeped out
Teeth are by definition uncanny, the point at which the skull beneath the skin erupts through the body's surface.
OK. Great. Now I can't stop thinking about my teeth.
