Light posting lately as I have been on the road and then catching up at the office.
On my nightstand - "Thirty Years That Shook Physics" by George Gamow and "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman" by Richard Feynman. These are selections from the "How Can I Make Myself Feel Incredibly Stupid?" book series I designed for the spring. Listening to the stories of these huge brains trying to wrap themselves around the general weirdness of quantum mechanics is absolutely awe-inspiring. Makes my history degrees seem kind of silly.
On my iPod - "Extraordinary Machine" by Fiona Apple. At some point in the next few years, Apple is capable of producing a truly great record. There is much to commend this one - interesting arrangements, songs that break out of the normal harmonic strictures of pop and a few wonderful lines. If Apple can somehow manage to purge herself of the "I'm so clever" high-school poetry lyrics that still pop up (e.g., "A voice stentorian is now again meek and muffled") and move beyond the girl-who-was-hurt-but-now-is-strong persona, she will reach an even higher level. Two of the best tracks on the record are the first song and the last song because they have a bit of a sense of humor and don't take themselves so seriously. I'd also like to hear more of her emotions in her singing and less in her lyrics. On the song "Oh Well," she breaks out of her monotone delivery and actually emotes when she sings "What wasted unconditional love/on somebody who doesn't believe in the stuff." It's the most powerful moment on the record, at least for me.
In my car CD player - A poetry reading by Billy Collins that correspondent Grubzilla burned for me. Noteworthy alone for the introduction by Bill Murray, the CD is a very entertaining set of Collins' poetry with an emphasis on his humorous side. His rhythm tends to be a little same-y from poem to poem, but some of the lines are classic. "The Lanyard" is destined to be crushed to death every Mother's Day when giftless sons send it at the last minute.
In my stomach - Sugar snap peas. I don't know how I got to my advanced age without having eaten these, but I can't stop snacking on them.
10 comments:
Quantum mechanics makes a lot more sense on 40mg of Crestor.
Seriously, I'll have to read that book. Physics is where I see the face of God in the universe.
Quantum mechanics makes a lot more sense on 40mg of Crestor.
Seriously, I'll have to read that book. Physics is where I see the face of God in the universe.
Damn you word verification!!!!
It keeps having me re-enter different words (there's no way I'm getting them wrong 5 times in a row) and then it posts my comment twice.
Sounds like there's some Heisenburg Uncertainty going on here.
Oh my god what a geek.
This is more like Schroedinger's cat.
If God is the unknowable, the awe inspiring, the something bigger than what we can comprehend - it's all there in the way electrons interact. It's there in chaos theory and the Mandelbrot set, it's there in a singularity, it's there in the theory of relativity - which I suppose would make Einstein a prophet.
Zen Buddishm and theoretical physics are practically the same thing, to me...
One of the cool things about the Gamow book is how he talks about the different energy states as being similar to the vibrations of a string and their harmonics. It's as if the universe has a root tone and a set of harmonics.
I can see through time!
Dude, the Universe is playin' a power chord! Cool!
What's more, the Universe wants to know if you can make it sound a little warmer and "Beatle-esque."
If the universe could see to it to rehearse a bit more before booking studio time, it would be a lot happier with the end result.
It's also pretty damn crowded in the control room when the universe is there. Talk about an entourage! Jeez!
blah blah blah Grand Funk Railroad...
Chris, try typing slower.
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