fractalnavel

sounded good...

i got this cardboard insert with the last grolsch six pack i bought, it says:

"to receive your grolsch swingtop bottle opener, go to www.grolschbeer.com"

ok.  the fine print mentions nothing about a contest or drawing; sounded like anyone who sends in gets one, until 12/31/04 or "until supplies last".

well, if you go to the website, eventually you end up at the grolsch promo page, which says only that you'll get "a chance at winning", and only until 9/04. 

not a biggy, just another of those little irks in life.  if you want one, get one, they ticked me off and it's not worth getting on their junk/spam list.  here's the six-pack insert code it mentions from the one i got:  G-04FB0.  i can barely make it out in the fine print.  first come, first served.

speaking of irks, i ordered some tour books and maps and stuff from aaa.  it got here very quickly, and it was in a pretty heavy duty opaque plastic bag. but it had been cut open at one end, clearly not accidentally.  everything was there.  looks like a not too subtle mail check to me.  i wonder if more freedoms/rights would have been left intact after 9/11 had someone else been on the throne.  back to one of my original darker thoughts that day:  there is just the slightest outside possibility that it was an inside job.  at the very least, it was taken advantage of by the administration in ways not optimally beneficial to the public.  and he is continuing to erode american prestige abroad.   i wonder if we can blame the u.s.'s poor olympic showing on him as well ?  ;-)

| |

some follow up on that “fringe ?” post:

• there was an occasion back in college when i was dropping my sister off in the chicago area, and i took the el into town to see the museums.  at the art institute, i was followed around for most of the day by what appeared to be a plainclothes security guy.  apparently he didn't think i noticed.  no, he wasn't just another tourist.  so i stood looking at “white on white” or “homage to the square” or something, just to make sure.  he was the only person besides me who wasn't quickly moving on.  and he had nothing to look at besides the floor.
• at airports recently, i seem to be pulled out of line for that “extra special” check an inordinate number of times (ie, every time).   yeah, maybe they just think i'm cute and want a closer look.  right.
• i was in my twenties walking to a a friend's house one night when i was stopped by two police cars.  after they were done frisking me, they told me that a car was stolen in the neighborhood.  i'm not  sure, but i think i may have asked them “well, did you find it ?”.  if i didn't, i should have.
• at camp dearborn recently, i was pulled over by the cops just as i was exiting the camp, nominally because i had no side mirrors. (they were ahead of me, waiting at the entrance for who knows how long for us to come out.  they were blocking the lane.  i had to wait for them to move out of the way before i could proceed.  then they turned on their lights after i passed them.)  they had been coming by to watch us (me, my brother and his six year old) fish on a stream in the park all day.  “have you been drinking?“ one asks.  sheesh.  no ticket.  now that i think about it, my brother & his kid were downstream most of the time, my guess is that they only saw me.

i'm trying to think of other occasions in which i've come under extra scrutiny by law enforcement or whoever for no apparent reason.  interesting stuff.  anyone got any stories where someone has been suspicious of you like that ? 

i mean c'mon, tell me,
does this look like an evil face ?

there was one halloween where i dressed in combat boots, an army trenchcoat, jeans, black sweater and beret, camo paint on my face, a red arm band, and a squirt gun that looked like an uzi.  as i sat on my porch i remember seeing parents with their kids (well, at least one group) cross over to the other side of the street before they got to the house, then crossing back a few doors down. hey, this was nearly twenty years ago.  what were they thinkin' ?  it was halloween !

anyway, it's clear i could never be a spy or a terrorist or anything.  i'm just too damn noticeable and suspicious looking ! ;-)  these jokers are running around expecting the shady characters to look like shady characters.  no wonder shit happens.

| |

...if this is mid-august weather.

note to all air conditioner users:  shut your doors !  apparently it is possible to cool down all of outdoors.

meanwhile, i'm getting into my refrigerator to keep warm.  i even had to dress warm to drink a cold beer the other day.

so i'm kinda in a holding pattern on a trip out east.  i was wanting a hot sunny jeep trip, not hypothermia.  i mean, i'd do it, but it's not preferred.  and i think the chesapeake is experiencing hurricane cast offs at the moment.  or maybe i'll just suck it up and go anyway.  this weather will keep the weekend campers to a minimum.

mmm, hot pizza for breakfast...

| |

[y'know, i think i used that title before - yep... ah, well, what the hell, leave it...]

Sowa, Gary wrote on 8/12/2004, 12:26:

Re: Antimatter  powered spaceship to launch next Friday

Engines studied to cruise solar system

By Tariq Malik
SPACE.com
Thursday, August 12, 2004 Posted: 1326 GMT (2126 HKT)

(SPACE.com) -- While the exploration of the moon and other planets in our solar system is exciting, the first task for astronauts and robots alike is to actually get to those destinations.

To facilitate inter-solar system travel, NASA has committed itself to the study of a number of far-out propulsion methods. Researchers are hoping the space agency's new Propulsion Research Center will help scientists move at least some of those new methods from the theoretical to reality.

"We need a real jumpstart in propulsion and research," said Steve Rodgers, manager of the new center based at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. "I think we have to go beyond chemical propulsion."

<SNIP/>

Handling antimatter

On the more extreme end of NASA's propulsion research are studies to wield antimatter in future space engines.

The collision between particles of normal matter and antimatter - such as protons and their oppositely charged antiproton counterparts - produces the most energetic reaction known in physics, but handing the explosive stuff is the hard part. Researchers at the MSFC propulsion center are working with tiny amounts of antimatter to find effective ways of storing and transporting the stuff for space voyages.

"The antimatter research is certainly far term," LaPointe said. "You need to start somewhere...to make baby steps."

next friday ?  beam me up !  ;-) 

other links:

• NASA Breakthrough Propulsion Physics Program
• http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/travelinginspace/future_propulsion.html
• http://www.virtuallystrange.net/ufo/updates/1999/aug/m24-028.shtml
• Electrodynamic Tethers in Space

the first one contains the way-out stuff, but was apparently put on hold by nasa a couple years back.  my question has been “what happened to marc millis ?”  seems nasa has disenfranchised him for some reason.  i'm not impressed by this latest nasa “initiative”, in light of their cancellation of the other propulsion programs.  they can't seem to get organized, and their goals are pretty mundane.  but yeah, “baby steps”, i guess.

i was always a fan of the idea of somehow making use of the vacuum zero-point energy, perhaps through something related to the casimir effect (look 'em up).  and then there's the dark energy / dark matter issues, related to the accelerating expansion of the universe, which may indicate other forces to play with.  yet nothing beats the ol' rotating black hole ring idea, held open by negative energy pressure.  and you get time travel to boot !

the antimatter idea lacks finesse.  just another variant on the “let's explosively release chaotic energy then channel it”.  i doubt this will achieve much, and i doubt we'll ever be able to manipulate / warp spacetime, so my bet is on using nano tech to leverage quantum field effects, a la casimir effect.

but there are issues more fundamental to the human condition (as opposed to theoretical, technical or engineering ones) that are the real obstacles.  economics, politics.  communications and cultural continuity.  when we get into the spacetime distances involved with interstellar travel, it's a whole new ballgame.  and then we likely don't have the proper technical foundations anyway (qm, gr, etc.), and the string theorists, who are basically staying with the same game, will likely not contribute much in the way of revolutionary ideas.  there may be other limits to human participation in undertakings approaching the limits of physics.  have we studied complex / biological systems in such environments ?  not yet.

eventually, what gets launched into interstellar space from this planet will necessarily likely have little to do with our current concept of “humanity”.  “we” may well have fallen by the evolutionary wayside by that time, perhaps still extant, but dead-ended in our infinite spirals into our own navels.  instead of vinge's technological singularity, it's looking more like we're headed for a flatline.  the drop ends when we arrive at such a microscopic level of detail that further "progress" is halted by a wash of white noise.

| |

some odd recent events (in no particular order) reinforce the idea that i'm not “normal”:

• i am setting up camp.  lady in the next site over asks, “are you alone? i never saw anyone set up camp alone before.”  how do you respond to that?  my sister-in-law suggests: “not anymore! what's for dinner ?”
• the next day, another group is setting up.  again: “are you alone?”.  at least they leave off the last part.
• waiting to meet up with family at a michigan rest area, i sit in my toy laden jeep, reading “dancing wu li masters”.  apparently this is suspicious behavior, as evidenced by the state troopers who park a few spots away and remain there.  not a big deal, but they don't leave until and exactly when a van load of people pull up and begin hugging me. (yes, they're the family members i've been waiting for.  smart ass.)
• also, see the conversation noted here: travels: more visiting
• and the comments here: All that and a bag of pretzels  and here: Requiem For a Dream.
• sometimes there are discussions with friends and family where at some point they slip (?) and claim that my single, not dating, never married status is evidence of dysfunction.  (neglecting to note that i've had about 14 years of long term relationships in the last 25.) (also note that these statements are most often offered as complete non-sequiturs, apparently with intent to be wielded as a club.)
• not recent, but relevant:  hell, a girlfriend even used to claim i was gay (go figure).  so did the girls in high school after their flirting led to nothing (to set the record straight: i was waiting for someone to show more interest than just flirting.  apparently they were waiting for the same thing.  i concluded they weren't interested.  they concluded i was gay.  *huh?*).

conclusions:

• apparently, it's a crime to be single, though perhaps not on the books as such.  yet.
• appearances of any sort are useless determinants of character.
• living on the edge is not where you go, it's where other people put you.
• it's probably a good thing i didn't get that mohawk.

of course, “normality” is not really the issue - “health” is (or should be).  seems to me that most of the unhealthy attitudes in this context have external sources.

| |

i'll never get out of here !

caught the following reference on the warrierz mailing list (which has seen a lot of traffic recently; i haven't caught up at all):

Klaatu Barada Nikto wrote on 8/04/2004, 22:06:

 Here's my new addition to the "must read" book stack.
Sounds like something Chris would blog about...

Quantum Psychology: How Brain Software Programs You and Your World by Robert
Anton Wilson
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1561840718/

Book Description
Throughout human history, thoughts, values and behaviors have been colored
by language and the prevailing view of the universe. With the advent of
Quantum Mechanics, relativity, non-Euclidean geometries, non-Aristotelian
logic and General Semantics, the scientific view of the world has changed
dramatically from just a few decades ago. Nonetheless, human thinking is
still deeply rooted in the cosmology of the middle ages. Quantum Psychology
is the book to change your way of perceiving yourself--and the universe--for
the 21st Century. Some say its materialistic, others call it scientific and
still others insist its mystical. It is all of these--and none.

How's this for a blurb:

I have learned more from Bob than from any other source.
He continues to produce intelligent, cranky, inspired thought.
                                    -- George Carlin

causality is so much fun, n'est-ce pas ? ;-)  just what i was thinking as i was working through “dancing wu li masters”.  so, well, i added it to my wishlist.  but i think the following review is worth noting:

Passive voice for the passive mind, December 30, 2003

Reviewer:   Mike (CA) - See all my reviews

As a professional physicist I found RAW's exposition comical, he proudly states that he has never studied Physics, which "is" painfully obvious to someone who has. This of course made me extremely wary of anything else he wrote as I am not able to judge the material in the same manner, but his grasp appears similarly weak and superficial. He has clearly skimmed a lot of books which may make him seem erudite to the uninformed. In fact this book is so awful I am not sure if it is meant to be a parody.

I am open minded, but not so much so that my brain has fallen out. Buy Jim Baggots, "The Meaning of Quantum Theory", Feynman's "QED", Richard Dawkins' "The Selfish Gene", Carl Jung's "Man and His Symbols" or Ludwig Wittgenstien's "Philosophical Investigatations", if you want a really mind expanding read. In fact read nearly anything else.

kinda what i would suspect.  yet perhaps still worth reading, as long as one is aware of the shortcomings.  but that's the just the point - most readers haven't a clue.  but i did want to note that list of books in the review - now those are must reads ! 

| |

not the gambling type, the little paperback type.

my sister wants to know:

wondering how many of your blog readers have read "Zen and the Art...[of motorcycle maintenance]" and whether we should recommend it to you, or hide it from you.....

:-*

interesting question.  that assumes there is such a thing as “your blog readers”.  she seems pretty impressed by the book, or at least enjoying talking about it.  never had a chance to read it myself.  i bought it once, was supposed to have been read by the last girlfriend and then returned to me, but it got blackholed.  i don't suppose an equivalent combination would be “the tao of pooh” and sun tzu's “art of war”, read while listening to arlo guthrie's “pickle song” (...”i don't want a pickle, i just want to ride my motorcyyyyy--- cle”).  ah well, some day...

just finished “dancing wu li masters” [no, i'm not putting in links to all these books, dang bandwidth is slow, remember ? gotta love cincy bell and its dirty lines].  i'd have to recommend it, even if i found the touches of mysticism a bit annoying at first.  but they turned out to be rather innocuous after all.  even though written in the late 70's it is still a good run through of modern physics concepts - quantum, relativity, particle.  since it predates modern string theory and the last twenty years of  cosmology (and much of current particle theory as well), it can maintain a focus on its chosen subjects.  these things tend to get lost in today's popularized volumes that try to cover too much in limited space.

although itself a popular physics book and math free, it was surprisingly scholarly in some senses.  by comparison with more recent stuff, i guess.  it presents a pretty full spectrum of perspectives which have otherwise been buried in much of mainstream physics. 

i got the book intending to do a slow read, and the thought provocation was not disappointing.  i'm sure various specifics will pop up here and there in future postings.  good mental exercise, a fun trip.

| |

..oblique song reference, there.  my effing dial-up connection is so effing dirty all it can manage is low baud.  painful lemme tell ya, when all you wanna do (is have some fun) is get going.

yet here i am, delaying my departure to inform people of my wheerabouts.  if they bother to look, that is.

last week's trip up to irons was great, saw the maryland folks, and my uncle and his lady friend at her place up there.  that's a nice part of the state to bang around, even if we only had a few days.  got some snorkeling done in two separate bodies of water - lake michigan, and the pond behind the house (fed by the little manistee river).  always pretty, lotsa fish, and cold - feels so good on hot sunny days.  lake michigan's clarity is impressive, reminded me of the carribean.  and surprise - a huge school of fish (don't know what kind), being eaten at its edges by a few huge fast shadowy silver things.  would have been nice to scuba, but as it was at the orchard state park beach, i can't really imagine hauling a hundred fifty pounds of gear up and down those stairs - it's a 150 foot or so stair climb down to - and up from - the beach. 

did some bike riding with the guys (my nephew and his dad), including a morning jaunt to dublin to get some of the general store's own jerky.  the hellfire wasn't quite as painful as last year however.  bummer.

other than that we did some car trips to various places (saw a house made of bottles in kaleva), picked wild blueberries (and made two pies, two batches of muffins, pancakes, and still had lots left over) and ate and ate and ate... what wonderful hosts.  helped rig a redgreen dock for my uncle.  and had company for all the drives in the jeep, stripped down and windblown and loving it, even in a brief downpour, for which a niece bravely joined me.  it's like i told her: a little hypothermia never killed anyone - but a lot has ;-) 

just journaling for my own memory's sake there, i guess.  no one caught any fish.  odd.

as for what's coming up, heading up to sterling state park to (hopefully) find a camping spot.  this late start may cause a problem, but maybe yesterday's rain cleared out a few people.  then meeting my brother at his in-law's block party.  he also signed me up for a “jeep 101” thing wiht him and his wife, which will be amusing.

meanwhile, my other brother is supposedly buying a new boat.  might get a chance to see that - and pick up my ol' cheapy camera as well.  it survived a couple trips ago when i left it one of his coolers (the outer pocket, silly).  so far this experience is telling me that i shouldn't pop for a more expensive one until i can (literally) get a handle on this one.  but on the “bright” side, this means that pics may again be appearing here.  maybe that's not such good news ;-)

so, argh, gonna get to the beach late today !  and still one more post to do...

| |