The weather has been gorgeous the last couple days, so the idea of sitting at the computer hasn’t been appealing. Plus, it’s occurred to me that I’ve just ended 29 years of sitting at a computer. My original plan was to spend this first retirement month getting solidly back into blogging again, but my brain is rebelling. It would rather just putter around for a while, enjoying life.
I do try to do what the voices in my head tell me. They seem to know what they’re talking about (at least, they’re quite convincing). I have managed to post more this month than any month so far this year, so I’m off to a fine start.
But I’m not going to work at much more this month unless the muse strikes me.
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8 Comments | tags: break time, Cogito ergo sum, humor, jokes, René Descartes | posted in From My Collection
I woke early to the sound of thunder this morning. It was hot enough earlier in the week to force me back to enclosed air conditioning. Friday, I realized it had cooled off enough to open the windows again. I very much prefer breezes blowing through my place. The weather witches mis-predicted rain Friday and Saturday but got it right Sunday morning.
I lay in bed sleepily thinking how much I enjoy the sound of rain and thunder. That thought was immediately followed by the realization that I needed to wake up and go close some windows! As the rain continued, I began to wonder if the Twins game today would be rained out, but now it’s just partly cloudy, so no problem.
I thundered yesterday, but on Sundays I try to be sunny (or just partly cloudy).
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8 Comments | tags: canine, Canis lupus familiaris, dogs, love, needles, NOVA, phobias, thunder, time, University of Virginia sundial | posted in Life, Science
I gotta be honest: the retired life is wonderful! It’s interesting to see how my mood has changed. It’s not quite a winter to summer change, but there are definitely fewer clouds in my skies these days. I’ve found that some things that always got under my skin don’t have the same power to piss me off they once did.
I noticed that first with regard to fans situated behind announcers mugging the camera. It bugged me producers would set up such distracting circumstances, and it bugged me the damn fans were distracting me from the announcers. The other day I found myself grinning due to a young man aping for the camera from his seat behind the sportscasters.
But that doesn’t mean some things still don’t piss me off or bum me out!
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9 Comments | tags: booing fans, Chris Rose, Jerry Seinfeld, Kevin Millar, Mitch Williams, MLB Intentional Talk, MLB Now, MLM, retirement, Seth MacFarlane, Ted | posted in Brain Bubble, Rant
If you have read this blog much, you know that a topic that interests me greatly is the nature of consciousness. How is it that a three-pound clump of cells, a brain, gives rise to the rich experience of consciousness, our minds? Cognitive scientist David Chalmers termed this “the hard problem” of consciousness, and as it stands we really have no idea what consciousness is (and yet we all experience it all the time).
Back in 1979 cognitive scientist Douglas Hofstadter wrote Gödel, Escher, Bach, a book that attempts to answer the question. GEB, as it became known, was a large book most took as a random tour of interesting scientific ideas. But GEB did have a theme, so 25 years later Hofstadter wrote another (much shorter) book to re-state his case.
That book is called I Am a Strange Loop, and it has much worth considering!
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46 Comments | tags: brain, David Chalmers, Douglas Hofstadter, experience, GEB, mind, Paris Hilton, Philosophical zombie, Theory of Consciousness | posted in Philosophy, Science
Today is the last day of the All-Star break. Monday was the Home Run Derby, and Tuesday was the All-Star Game itself. Wednesday and Thursday are days off for everyone in Major League baseball. In fact, yesterday and today are the only two days during the entire season that there are no baseball games played.
Tomorrow the season resumes, and all 30 teams begin working their way towards winning their division and getting the pennant. At this point in the season, just past the halfway mark, no one is out of the race, but for some teams winning requires a major change in team performance. And some teams already stand out as the presumptive winner.
It’s the season’s “weekend,” so let’s talk about baseball stories!
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2 Comments | tags: 9, Bull Durham, Casey at the Bat, Field of Dreams, George Carlin, Major League, Moneyball, The Natural | posted in Baseball, Movies
The baseball joy in July continues! Last night, the American League won the Midsummer Classic, the MLB All-Star Game. In fact, it really wasn’t even a close game. The AL shut out the NL, 3-0, which ended a three-year losing streak! Prior to that streak, the AL pretty much owned the NL back to 1988, winning 18 of 22 (with one tie in ’02).
You are perhaps wondering why the American League is “us” and “we.” It’s simple. I’m a Minnesota Twins fan, and they’re in the AL (Central Division). And why the Twins? I lived here from 1960-1967 (my “Wonder Bread years”) and from 1984-present, so I’ve been a “Minnesnowtan” for 62% of my life. That’s reason enough.
What follows is a write up of notes I took during the game last night:
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2 Comments | tags: 42, Harmon Killebrew, Jackie Robinson, Mariano Rivera, Michael Cuddyer, MLB, MLB All-Star Game, Prince Fielder | posted in Baseball
Imagine taking one of the most exciting parts of baseball — something not only dedicated baseball fans love, but something everyone agrees is exciting. Imagine creating something that distills a baseball game down to this one thing, this essence of baseball excitement. What is this universal crowd-pleaser? It is, of course, the ultimate crack of the bat, the best of the “three true outcomes.” It is the home run!
Imagine watching eight of baseball’s best sluggers vying to see who can hit the most home runs. The only thing at stake: simply hitting the most homers and winning the trophy. This isn’t like the All-Star Game this evening where the winner determines home field advantage for the World Series in October. It is like the All-Star Game in being one of three events that pits the American League against the National League (the World Series, of course, is the third and most important).
For sheer unalloyed baseball fun, it’s hard to beat the Home Run Derby!
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2 Comments | tags: American League, Bryce Harper, Home Run Derby, Michael Cuddyer, MLB, National League, Oakland Athletics, Yoenis Céspedes | posted in Baseball
It started in the summer of 2010. June, I believe. The previous decade had been a bad one. If the first ten years were an indicator, the 21st century was really going to suck. I’d gotten married in ’98 and discovered almost immediately I’d made a mistake. In the middle of a turbulent marriage, 9/11 happened. I was born in NYC; my mind rang with grief echos for about a year afterwards.
I was divorced by ’03, and I’d moved twice — once to a rental and then to the condo I bought. In ’04, double barrels: I had 60 days to find another position after they closed my department (which I did on day 58), and then my beloved dog died. For the next five years I threw myself into my work.
Which brought me, stressed and depressed, to 2010. And baseball.
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1 Comment | tags: first base, home run, Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins, Pablo Sandoval, Softball, strike out | posted in Baseball
After Saturn-Day comes Sun-Day, a day named after our local star. (To clarify: I’m referring to the nearby ball of hot, flaming gas, not a regional celebrity.) ((To clarify the clarification: I’m also not referring to any politician, but to the astronomical object.)) [And by ‘astronomical’ I mean ‘in space’ not ‘really, really big’ (although in this case both apply). And by ‘space’ I mean ‘outer,’ not the stuff in your attic.]
I trust things are perfectly clear now. It’s Sunday, so we worship the sun. Or in many cases, the Son. It may be a sacred day — a Sabbath day — or it may be just a day off from (normal) work. [For some parts of the world, it’s just a regular workday.]
A very common view is that Sunday afternoon is just for fun.
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2 Comments | tags: Angie Harmon, Gibbs, Minnesota Twins, MLB, MLB All-Star Game, MLB Home Run Derby, NCIS, picnic, Saturday, Sunday | posted in Baseball, TV
Today I’m starting a brand-new ancient tradition: Sci-Fi Saturday! It won’t mean a science fiction post every Saturday, but when I do post SF topics, it’ll be on Saturday. This new protocol has many precedents. Last August I posted four articles for Star Trek Saturday. The August before that, I posted two key Star Trek articles (one of them my favorite diatribe about the holodeck).
Turns out it was a Saturday I posted those videos with Captain Kirk and Princess Leia giving each other crap about which was better, Star Trek or Star Wars (duh, it’s Doctor Who). And there are other science fiction posts that fell on Saturday (I was surprised at how many — it seems the new tradition is foreordained). Plus, Saturday is named after Saturn, which is an extremely science fiction-y planet!
So welcome to Sci-Fi Saturday!
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14 Comments | tags: 2001: A Space Odyssey, Doctor Who, Final Fantasy, Game of Thrones, Saturn, science fiction, SF, Star Trek, Star Wars | posted in Movies, Sci-Fi Saturday
Logos con carne 