Jessica Simpson snubs Bush to the great dismay of the Republican party by refusing to meet with him at a National Republican Congressional Committee fundraising event, but nowhere does the article state what her party is. Nevertheless, I'll reconsider my low opinion of her for that show of spunk.
Robert Kenney's killer was denied parole for the thirteenth time... but his lawyer sounds even worse off: "His longtime attorney died last year after numerous failed attempts to get his client a new trial." Heartbreak can be lethal too.
There are plenty of fish in the sea, but what do we really know about big numbers?
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
mystery manuscript
The uncrackable Voynich manuscript (MS 408, Yale Library - Beinecke) is now available in facsimile edition! Aspiring cryptographers, get yours while supplies last!I picked up a postcard of a dude carrying a crook with a bell in Antwerpen yesterday, and it led me to a fun website that encourages folks to "think." For example: Elvo's example of deep thinking.
So there are free wifi hotspots...in Brussels. Big help to me. And the city is looking into implementing wider access. I love the last line explaining WiMAX: "It is similar to WiFi in concept...online dictionary Wikipedia said." Either someone figured out how to interview a non-living, non-physical entity, or someone's English sucks.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
miao!
Pets outnumber people in the United States by about 60 million, and they are becoming increasingly pampered. I was once horrified by a little dog being walked by a college-age girl in Los Angeles that had been shaved, except around its neck, to look like a one-foot-tall lion with a ribbon in its "mane." The poor creature can never regain its dignity. Why have comically tiny short-legged dogs that have to race just to move at a walking pace and are therefore evolutionarily impractical in the wild become such popular pets in recent years?
Sunday, March 12, 2006
spiegel
Mirror mirror on the wall
Haven't I any email at all?
Haven't I any email at all?
Furniture surfs the web. Leave it to the Japanese.
Friday, March 10, 2006
haar
Why are human beings the only animals that lack fur and yet can grow really long hair only from their heads? Other creatures must find our appearance freakish.
I admit I need more sleep, but nobody's going to buy the claim that "Sleeping only six hours a night for a week will make you as tired on that seventh night as if you'd had no sleep at all" from the CNN article To sleep, perchance to live. Sure as hell I know what it's like to not sleep a wink, and it's real different from how I feel on a regular Sunday.
I admit I need more sleep, but nobody's going to buy the claim that "Sleeping only six hours a night for a week will make you as tired on that seventh night as if you'd had no sleep at all" from the CNN article To sleep, perchance to live. Sure as hell I know what it's like to not sleep a wink, and it's real different from how I feel on a regular Sunday.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
eligible and successful
"It's a fast, comfortable way of meeting eligible Ivy League singles just like you.... You must sign up with a friend of the opposite sex to ensure an even number of daters" (March 2006 newsletter of the Yale Club of New York City). Wrong in so many ways, like the Yale Visa card (which I must admit I occasionally want for the Harkness Tower photo).
Not half as wrong, however, as the very existence of the book Top of the Class: How Asian Parents Raise High Achievers, and How You Can Too, a review of which well-intentioned John Bordley thought Tom and I would find interesting...with ill results. I question the credibility of authors who claim with 'egalitarian' spirit, "Every Asian American could have written this book; we were just the first ones." I doubt the Kim sisters are really so stupid as to take the "model minority" stereotype as a given fact, but they do in order to sell their money-making scheme. Most of the Asian-American students I knew weren't going anywhere fast and certainly couldn't write. And if I were willing to sell my soul and write such a book (in six months during my free time, no less!), it would argue tenets opposite to what the Kim sisters advocate (i.e. "encouraging children to pursue financially lucrative careers rather than 'whatever will make you happy'"). While co-author Jane Kim may have failed to achieve her dream of becoming a writer within just one year after graduation, her exemplary current job as a lawyer, her main qualification to write about Asian-American success, could easily suggest that she chickened out and sold her dreams for a money-making career...as she and her sister are doing now at the expense of untold numbers of American children.
I could rant forever, and I will later.
Not half as wrong, however, as the very existence of the book Top of the Class: How Asian Parents Raise High Achievers, and How You Can Too, a review of which well-intentioned John Bordley thought Tom and I would find interesting...with ill results. I question the credibility of authors who claim with 'egalitarian' spirit, "Every Asian American could have written this book; we were just the first ones." I doubt the Kim sisters are really so stupid as to take the "model minority" stereotype as a given fact, but they do in order to sell their money-making scheme. Most of the Asian-American students I knew weren't going anywhere fast and certainly couldn't write. And if I were willing to sell my soul and write such a book (in six months during my free time, no less!), it would argue tenets opposite to what the Kim sisters advocate (i.e. "encouraging children to pursue financially lucrative careers rather than 'whatever will make you happy'"). While co-author Jane Kim may have failed to achieve her dream of becoming a writer within just one year after graduation, her exemplary current job as a lawyer, her main qualification to write about Asian-American success, could easily suggest that she chickened out and sold her dreams for a money-making career...as she and her sister are doing now at the expense of untold numbers of American children.I could rant forever, and I will later.
Monday, March 06, 2006
b/w
I finally figured out why I never wash my loads as "white" and "colors." No, it's not a socio-political statement. It's just that I hardly have any white clothes.
I've become so desperate for baigan bharta, which none of the Belgian Indian restaurants serve or know of even though it's a common dish in Indian, that I tried tonight for the second time in my life to cook eggplant. The first time I cooked an eggplant dish, it was so inedible that I started to feel ill, tossed out the meal, and cooked dinner anew.
My adventure tonight began with spearing the eggplant on a chopstick and roasting it over an open stove flame for seven minutes, as our kitchen has no roaster. I also mashed together my own garam masala, forgetting to roast it (not that I could). Halfway through the cooking process, I had gone from optimist to gloomy Gus, but the final result proved far more edible than expected--and decidedly hot.
I've become so desperate for baigan bharta, which none of the Belgian Indian restaurants serve or know of even though it's a common dish in Indian, that I tried tonight for the second time in my life to cook eggplant. The first time I cooked an eggplant dish, it was so inedible that I started to feel ill, tossed out the meal, and cooked dinner anew.
My adventure tonight began with spearing the eggplant on a chopstick and roasting it over an open stove flame for seven minutes, as our kitchen has no roaster. I also mashed together my own garam masala, forgetting to roast it (not that I could). Halfway through the cooking process, I had gone from optimist to gloomy Gus, but the final result proved far more edible than expected--and decidedly hot.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
babies schmabies
On the train from Zaventem Luchthaven to Mechelen, I got into a conversation with a tall German fellow living in Lyon, France, and regularly commuting 100 miles to Switzerland to work for Dupont. Occasionally, he travels to one of Dupont's largest facilities in the world--in Mechelen!
Somehow we got to talking about the state of planet. Thinking of the conversation I'd had with a woman I'd met on the train to New Haven, I commented on how puzzled I was by high school friends who were impatient to have five or more children, to which he replied that Europe was facing a baby deficit that could have severe economic consequences.
The economy is absolutely important, but it nevertheless leaves me frustrated and angry that Europe is trying to promote a new baby boom. Having a mother or father around full time is important, and when women are in the workplace, parents can't take care of that many children well. More importantly, there are uncounted numbers of unwanted children in the world. And European governments are spending their budgets on encouraging people to have babies who will consume the food that starving children and orphans will never have.
Mother earth does not need more people. Every 20 minutes, the human population grows by about 3,000. The current global population of 6 billion people exceeds the earth's capacity to sustain present standards of living by about 30%. We're going to have much larger problems on our hands than European policy revisions in a couple of decades.
I am afraid sometimes for the future in which I'm trying to carry out my plans. Will any of my hopes be relevant or practicable by then?
Somehow we got to talking about the state of planet. Thinking of the conversation I'd had with a woman I'd met on the train to New Haven, I commented on how puzzled I was by high school friends who were impatient to have five or more children, to which he replied that Europe was facing a baby deficit that could have severe economic consequences.
The economy is absolutely important, but it nevertheless leaves me frustrated and angry that Europe is trying to promote a new baby boom. Having a mother or father around full time is important, and when women are in the workplace, parents can't take care of that many children well. More importantly, there are uncounted numbers of unwanted children in the world. And European governments are spending their budgets on encouraging people to have babies who will consume the food that starving children and orphans will never have.
Mother earth does not need more people. Every 20 minutes, the human population grows by about 3,000. The current global population of 6 billion people exceeds the earth's capacity to sustain present standards of living by about 30%. We're going to have much larger problems on our hands than European policy revisions in a couple of decades.
I am afraid sometimes for the future in which I'm trying to carry out my plans. Will any of my hopes be relevant or practicable by then?
ceci n'est pas une pipe bombe
MODED!
Band Sticker on Bike Prompts Bomb Scare. Paranoia is a terrible thing.
Antwerpen has everything. The largest Jainist temple outside India is in outlying Wilrijk on Laarstraat.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
bikes
Bruno brought my baby home today good as brand-spanking new. There are no words to describe the joy of being reunited with my other half.
Interesting adjunct to urban spelunking photography: abandoned bikes in new york.
Interesting adjunct to urban spelunking photography: abandoned bikes in new york.
Friday, February 24, 2006
mr. fusion
Reducing, reusing, and recycling is a passion for me. I've always really wanted that car in Back to the Future with the Mr. Fusion engine into which you could throw your half-finished can of Coke and banana peels.
San Francisco recycles 60% of its garbage already. Is it any surprise that the city has figured out how to recycle doggie poopoo as well?
San Francisco recycles 60% of its garbage already. Is it any surprise that the city has figured out how to recycle doggie poopoo as well?
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Bulldogs in Baghdad
I wonder who masterminded this?
Officials say Iraq internship poster is a prank
I don't suppose it was inspired by the emails regarding Bulldogs in Brussels.
In other news: The Love Parade lives! But I'll be in Gdansk, Poland for the World Carillon Federation Congress. Of all weekends to pick, the first time I'm in Europe to join in the fun!
Officials say Iraq internship poster is a prank
I don't suppose it was inspired by the emails regarding Bulldogs in Brussels.
In other news: The Love Parade lives! But I'll be in Gdansk, Poland for the World Carillon Federation Congress. Of all weekends to pick, the first time I'm in Europe to join in the fun!
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
wi-fi
San Fran has the biggest municipal Wi-Fi network in the country, the 35-square-mile free MetroFi in the south San Francisco bay area. And Chicago is jealous.
Now if only Wi-Fi was available in a single cafe in Belgium!
Now if only Wi-Fi was available in a single cafe in Belgium!
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Les Carillons de Flandre
Arriving in the town square of Mechelen, Belgium in September 2005, I was greeted by a plaque entitled “Les Carillons de Flandre”—a poem by Victor Hugo about the instrument so ubiquitous in the Low Countries. Standing by restaurants called Onder Den Toren and De Carillon, the plaque reassured me that I had entered a culture in which the carillon resounds through everyday life.
Within this city of 80,000 people stands the world’s first carillon school, the Royal Carillon School “Jef Denyn”. It offers a “Practical Diploma” and the final “Laureate’s Diploma.” Three American students are pursuing the typically seven-year Laureate’s Diploma in one year: Tom Lee and myself (recent Yale Guild alumni) and John Bordley (Sewanee). Each week, we take lessons in carillon performance, composition, and campanology. For composition, students write a set of variations and an original piece, both of which they perform for their final exam recital. A thirty-page thesis on a historical, cultural, or technical aspect of campanology is written with individual guidance. Basic musicianship courses in choir and piano are also mandatory.
Students must perform a short midterm exam in December and a final exam recital of about 45 minutes in June. Because European carillons call for different repertoire than those in North America, foreign students may find themselves immersed in a repertoire quite separate and challenging from what they have played before. In perhaps no other musical discipline is accessibility to historical instruments so open—playing centuries-old carillons is easy to arrange.
The student association Campana organizes several outings to carillons, museums, and foundries, but overall student interaction is limited to the school day as most people commute, including a high number of foreign students. Students usually take classes two days per week and are otherwise free to practice, research, and travel. Travel is irresistible—it is affordable, and utterly different cultures are just hours away.
Mechelen is a small but culturally rich city in which everyday conveniences are within walking distance and cycling is often preferred to driving. Brussels and Antwerp are fifteen minutes away by train and well worth getting to know. The Flemish government offers free Dutch language courses, and city life is rich with cultural festivals and early music concerts, as well as Belgium’s famed cuisine. You may soon find your wallet slimming as your waistline expands from heavy intake of chocolate, waffles, fries, and Belgian beer. And you will gradually adjust to a slower pace of life in which savoring a meal with company for several hours and closing stores promptly after work and on Sundays is more important than reaping profits. Nevertheless, Belgium enjoys one of the highest standards of living in the world.
The Royal Carillon School is in an exciting time of transition, finalizing joint programs with the Netherlands Carillon Institute (Boudewijn Zwart) and the Dutch Carillon School in the Netherlands and the International Carillon Institute (Tim Hurd) in New Zealand. By the end of the year, an accredited bachelor’s degree in carillon will be jointly available with a partner conservatory.
For more information, attend the education panel at the 2006 GCNA Congress and keep your eyes on the Royal Carillon School’s website. I am translating it into English, and for my thesis, cataloging and building an online multimedia version of the school’s Carillon Museum: www.beiaardschool.be.
Within this city of 80,000 people stands the world’s first carillon school, the Royal Carillon School “Jef Denyn”. It offers a “Practical Diploma” and the final “Laureate’s Diploma.” Three American students are pursuing the typically seven-year Laureate’s Diploma in one year: Tom Lee and myself (recent Yale Guild alumni) and John Bordley (Sewanee). Each week, we take lessons in carillon performance, composition, and campanology. For composition, students write a set of variations and an original piece, both of which they perform for their final exam recital. A thirty-page thesis on a historical, cultural, or technical aspect of campanology is written with individual guidance. Basic musicianship courses in choir and piano are also mandatory.Students must perform a short midterm exam in December and a final exam recital of about 45 minutes in June. Because European carillons call for different repertoire than those in North America, foreign students may find themselves immersed in a repertoire quite separate and challenging from what they have played before. In perhaps no other musical discipline is accessibility to historical instruments so open—playing centuries-old carillons is easy to arrange.
The student association Campana organizes several outings to carillons, museums, and foundries, but overall student interaction is limited to the school day as most people commute, including a high number of foreign students. Students usually take classes two days per week and are otherwise free to practice, research, and travel. Travel is irresistible—it is affordable, and utterly different cultures are just hours away.
Mechelen is a small but culturally rich city in which everyday conveniences are within walking distance and cycling is often preferred to driving. Brussels and Antwerp are fifteen minutes away by train and well worth getting to know. The Flemish government offers free Dutch language courses, and city life is rich with cultural festivals and early music concerts, as well as Belgium’s famed cuisine. You may soon find your wallet slimming as your waistline expands from heavy intake of chocolate, waffles, fries, and Belgian beer. And you will gradually adjust to a slower pace of life in which savoring a meal with company for several hours and closing stores promptly after work and on Sundays is more important than reaping profits. Nevertheless, Belgium enjoys one of the highest standards of living in the world.
The Royal Carillon School is in an exciting time of transition, finalizing joint programs with the Netherlands Carillon Institute (Boudewijn Zwart) and the Dutch Carillon School in the Netherlands and the International Carillon Institute (Tim Hurd) in New Zealand. By the end of the year, an accredited bachelor’s degree in carillon will be jointly available with a partner conservatory.
For more information, attend the education panel at the 2006 GCNA Congress and keep your eyes on the Royal Carillon School’s website. I am translating it into English, and for my thesis, cataloging and building an online multimedia version of the school’s Carillon Museum: www.beiaardschool.be.
biking news
- Launch of the Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley Wiki!
- [New York] City Rebuffed in Trying to Bar [Critical] Mass Bike Rides
- Horses and bikes may not be vehicles for long [in Aberdeen, South Dakota]
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
cruel and unusual
CNN.com headline reads "Lethal injection must change before execution: Mix of drugs may be cruel and unusual punishment".
It's disgusting, the absurdity of fighting over such petty details when the death penalty itself is cruel and unusual punishment.
Apparently an apartment complex just off the ring in Mechelen was a holding place for Jews during WWII. There is, in fact, a Mechelen Museum of Deportation and Resistance in the city and, preserved nearby in Willebroek, Breendonk Fort National Memorial, a former concentration camp.
It's disgusting, the absurdity of fighting over such petty details when the death penalty itself is cruel and unusual punishment.
Apparently an apartment complex just off the ring in Mechelen was a holding place for Jews during WWII. There is, in fact, a Mechelen Museum of Deportation and Resistance in the city and, preserved nearby in Willebroek, Breendonk Fort National Memorial, a former concentration camp.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
i am my lifelong idol!
Your results: You are Captain Jean-Luc Picard, a lover of Shakespeare and other fine literature. You have a decisive mind and a firm hand in dealing with others.
Star Trek Personality Quiz
What disturbs me is that my runner-up identity is Deanna Troi, my least favorite character, right in line with Jean Grey in the X-Men for being a useless wimp whose existence is solely to serve as eye candy. "Oh Riker/Cyclops, help me!" or "Oh, I sense... too many emotions... can't take it anymore..." What an embarrassment to womankind.
Star Trek Personality QuizWhat disturbs me is that my runner-up identity is Deanna Troi, my least favorite character, right in line with Jean Grey in the X-Men for being a useless wimp whose existence is solely to serve as eye candy. "Oh Riker/Cyclops, help me!" or "Oh, I sense... too many emotions... can't take it anymore..." What an embarrassment to womankind.
| Jean-Luc Picard | 70% | |
| Deanna Troi | 60% | |
| James T. Kirk | 50% | |
| Will Riker | 50% | |
| Chekov | 50% | |
| Geordi LaForge | 45% | |
| Beverly Crusher | 45% | |
| Uhura | 45% | |
| Spock | 39% | |
| Worf | 35% | |
| Mr. Scott | 30% | |
| Mr. Sulu | 30% | |
| Leonard McCoy | 30% | |
| Data | 29% | |
| An Expendable Character (Redshirt) | 25% |
Monday, February 13, 2006
ohhh the irony...
Shout-out to old man Yale-dropout Cheney for cementing the world's impression of Americans as rifle-toting, card-carrying NRA members. Bush Learned Within Three Hours That Cheney Shot Hunter, but the American public didn't learn it from the White House.
At least some good humor has come of the event. Jon Stewart interviewed a fake "firearms mishap analyst" who told him, "The vice president is standing by his decision to shoot Harry Whittington. According to the best intelligence available, there were quail hidden in the bush."
And when Bill Gates appeared at a computer security conference in California, he quipped, "I'm really glad to be here. My other invitation was to go quail hunting with Dick Cheney."Loading...
At least some good humor has come of the event. Jon Stewart interviewed a fake "firearms mishap analyst" who told him, "The vice president is standing by his decision to shoot Harry Whittington. According to the best intelligence available, there were quail hidden in the bush."
And when Bill Gates appeared at a computer security conference in California, he quipped, "I'm really glad to be here. My other invitation was to go quail hunting with Dick Cheney."Loading...
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
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