You’ve probably gathered from my writings by now that I think that bike riding is a good thing. Particularly as an alternative to driving, where appropriate. One such place where biking is in principle a perfect alternative is Los Angeles. Mostly flat, wide streets, perfect weather most of the year … Click to continue reading this post
Don’t miss out on the new physics blog carnival, Philosophia Naturalis, hosted at Science and Reason. Lots of good stuff to read there. -cvj
I’ve come to realise that there are all sorts of really interesting people on the USC campus, involved in fascinating work and interesting projects of one sort or another. This is of course true for any university. However, I am still finding pleasant surprises and connections quite regularly. The last … Click to continue reading this post
The next Categorically Not! is Sunday 24th September. I’ve posted before about the Categorically Not! series of events held at the Santa Monica Art Studios. They’re fantastic, and I strongly encourage you to come to them if you’re in the area. Have a look at the last two descriptions here … Click to continue reading this post
No apology here. I really love cats. As a result, I love this video. Might be old for you…. it is new for me. And just priceless. Thought I’d share. (Click here.) -cvj (Thanks Carol!)
For you physics lurkers at USC (you know who you are!), consider going to the following event (RSVP by tomorrow): Our distiguished (and superpowered -she can fly) librarian, Sara Tompson, in conjunction with the USC Women in Physics Society, have organised a tour and demo of various of the science … Click to continue reading this post
Remember a year ago, the launch of the ipod nano that caught my eye? Even led to a long physics joke explanation.. Well, they’ve done it again. The new ipod shuffle is out! And yes, it is just so lovely. And it is more nano than the nano, size wise. … Click to continue reading this post
This is the penultimate line in an article today in the Science Times: “Sometimes how the blood is splattered on the wall tells you more about what happened than the body,†It is a quote from Harold Levison of the Southwest Research Institute, in the context of understanding the origins … Click to continue reading this post
In view of the discussion here and here, I feel I ought to remind readers of an earlier post entitled “The Rise of the Nerd” I wrote on the subject of nerds, geeks, the terminology, and the media portrayals. Somewhere in there is a serious point, which keeps getting missed … Click to continue reading this post
I’m trying hard not to think about this day, five years ago, in Manhattan. Nor the days immediately following. Those were among the worst experiences of my life, being so close (but very luckily, far away enough) to the events. But the whole thing gets replayed by the media every … Click to continue reading this post
Well, Roy Hargrove was as good as I recall from the last time I saw him, in one of my favourite jazz clubs, the Village Vanguard in New York. In view of other live small club music events I’ve been to in LA, I admit that I was expecting a … Click to continue reading this post
I have this problem: I don’t really have enough hours in each day. One of the symptoms of this problem is a huge pile of unread or partially read issues of the New Yorker. Sometimes I try to catch up. This catching up is incomplete, of course, and sometimes I … Click to continue reading this post
One of my hobbies for a while when I was a young ‘un was origami. It was swiftly overtaken by other arts and crafts, and these were hobbies long before I started taking apart cameras and radios, and the like, to see how they worked, and collecting pondwater and pressing … Click to continue reading this post
As you wind down the week’s activity, take a moment or two to pause and admire Mount Etna, which is undergoing a spectacular series of eruptions (click for larger images). Remarkable. You can look at a live webcam and make your own snapshots like these (which are
So I learned earlier this week that one of my favourite young trumpeters, Roy Hargrove is going to be at the Catalina Bar and Grill from Wednesday through this weekend… …and -bizarrely enough- one of my favourite young saxophonists, James Carter is going to be at the Jazz Bakery precisely … Click to continue reading this post
