Tuesday, March 30, 2004
Brian Greene
Just got back from seeing Brian Greene speak at the Oriental Institute. He's a very good speaker. Very energetic, lots of hand gestures. I didn't like so much the way he began the talk by explaining that his book is supposed to be answering the question, "What is Reality?" Too much grandiose, Matrix-style pseudophilosophical faux deepness. But the rest of it was much better. He speaks very much like I think a physicist should speak. And with no accent!
There was a question about the role of consiousness in collapsing quantum mechanical wave functions. He dismissed the idea. I tend to agree with his assessment that it does seem to be a matter of interaction with the environment rather than consciousness, but the way he answered the question rubbed me the wrong way. He was a bit cruel in the way he dismissed it. There was definately a better way of explaining that he thought the idea was complete crap.
There was a question about the role of consiousness in collapsing quantum mechanical wave functions. He dismissed the idea. I tend to agree with his assessment that it does seem to be a matter of interaction with the environment rather than consciousness, but the way he answered the question rubbed me the wrong way. He was a bit cruel in the way he dismissed it. There was definately a better way of explaining that he thought the idea was complete crap.
Plug
Connor thinks he might want to try and sell T-shirts for his upcoming book, Urbantasm. He's asking for design ideas and potential interest in purchasing said apparel.
Monday, March 29, 2004
Saturday
There was finally activity for us to attend!! We went to the Spelling Bee at 1. On the way, Doug had a wonderful idea, bouyed by my almost-certainly mistaken idea about the relevant local drinking laws. He ran off to Harris Teeter's to pick up a styrofoam cooler and a bunch of beer. We drank during the Bee, gave a bottle to the winner, then wandered to the other side of the Rotunda to continue drinking while watching team Rocketship perform Shakespeare on the Lawn on the Lawn. Then we wandered, continuing to drink. We eventually found our way into Littlejohn's, where we got food to eat while continuing to drink.
In the evening we went to the NBA Jam tournament. A couple of very exciting games interupted by several very funny moments. Some teams were able to complete "He's on Fire!" We packed up and got ready for judgement before we went to bed.
In the evening we went to the NBA Jam tournament. A couple of very exciting games interupted by several very funny moments. Some teams were able to complete "He's on Fire!" We packed up and got ready for judgement before we went to bed.
Chicago
We just got back, after 12 hours of driving. Me = Tired. I'm aware that I have about two days of Hunt to fill in. I'll get to that after a couple of hours of sleep, class in the morning, and possibly more sleep later in the morning.
Saturday, March 27, 2004
Improvement
While Doug, Sam, and Matt were on the roadtrip, Steven, Allie, and I went around getting in touch with all the teams and meeting up with them. We just barely missed watching Beta Bridge get painted. Things generally seem more optimistic after talking to a bunch of the teams. One of the captains (Caroline from GUTS) even invited us all to her birthday party. She was quite pleased when we actually showed up. That was fun. I had some realizations. Maybe there will be more on that later. I might have an incriminating photo or two at some point.
We finally put together the ScavOlympics list. That should be entertaining.
We finally put together the ScavOlympics list. That should be entertaining.
Thursday, March 25, 2004
Trackback
I now have Trackback. Thanks, HaloScan!
Thursday Afternoon
This is the time when, at the UofC Hunt, we would be preparing for the Talent Show. Alas, there is nothing on the schedule until Saturday afternoon. Things are very slow between now and then. Hopefully they will pick up Saturday.
Doug ran off to tear up the roadtrip. Sam decided to run off with him at the absolute last possible second. The plan now is to have them pick up Matt when they get to Philadelphia. They should be back tomorrow evening. Steven, Allie, and I are remaining here to try and build the windmill and the trebuchet, just in case no one builds it, just to show them that it can actually be done. While teh Steven started taking apart a pallet we found on I-64, Allie and I wandered around the Lawn area. We got a nice picture of the Rotunda from across the length of the Lawn:
Yes, thsoe frat boys are pegging that poor statue with a football. We were too afraid of getting hit to check the identity of the statue, but we're pretty sure it's not TJ.
UPDATE: It's "Blind Homer with his Student Guide, given to the University in 1907" according to the RotundaCam.
Doug ran off to tear up the roadtrip. Sam decided to run off with him at the absolute last possible second. The plan now is to have them pick up Matt when they get to Philadelphia. They should be back tomorrow evening. Steven, Allie, and I are remaining here to try and build the windmill and the trebuchet, just in case no one builds it, just to show them that it can actually be done. While teh Steven started taking apart a pallet we found on I-64, Allie and I wandered around the Lawn area. We got a nice picture of the Rotunda from across the length of the Lawn:
Yes, thsoe frat boys are pegging that poor statue with a football. We were too afraid of getting hit to check the identity of the statue, but we're pretty sure it's not TJ.
UPDATE: It's "Blind Homer with his Student Guide, given to the University in 1907" according to the RotundaCam.
Awake
We're awake, finally. Plans = food, dumpstering, wandering campus hoping to get noticed by teams.
List Release
So yeah, we've been enlisted as full-fledged judges. Or in my case, as a Juj (due mostly to user malfunction). We all fogot our cameras when we left for List Release. But there wasn't much to photograph as it turns out. Soma and Mark left a clue online that directed the teams to a college hang-out. They were then supposed to pick up the list there. We're also posting it at noon.
There are nine judges and one juj. The list is 10 pages, plus the RoadTrip, plus ScavOlympics (both of which we put on different pages). We didn't have enough time to organize the items the way we wanted to, but things look like they'll be okay. Perhaps there will be more on our personal favorites tomorrow, once all the teams theoretically have access to the list itself.
As part of everything, I'll need to be wandering around campus for the better part of tomorrow. With my camera, of course. There should be photos up tomorrow night.
There are nine judges and one juj. The list is 10 pages, plus the RoadTrip, plus ScavOlympics (both of which we put on different pages). We didn't have enough time to organize the items the way we wanted to, but things look like they'll be okay. Perhaps there will be more on our personal favorites tomorrow, once all the teams theoretically have access to the list itself.
As part of everything, I'll need to be wandering around campus for the better part of tomorrow. With my camera, of course. There should be photos up tomorrow night.
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
We're Here
We arrived in Charlottesville last night around 2:30 to 3:00. No pictures of our glorious arrival. Of course Doug ran ahead of Steven and I, so of course he got here an hour ahead of us. And of course, by the time we got here, he had found the place to be in Charlottesville at 3:00 in the morning.
We've been drafted into list consulting.
UPDATE: Here's where we found Doug:
We've been drafted into list consulting.
UPDATE: Here's where we found Doug:
Monday, March 22, 2004
Virginia
I'm getting ready to leave California. We're leaving the house around 8:30 to get me to LAX. I'm flying into Midway this evening, and we're leaving Chicago by car tomorrow morning. We should arrive in Charlottesville tomorrow night.
My plan is to blog this trip as much as possible. A couple of people have asked for updates, and this seems to be the most efficient way of doing that. And it might serve well as a test run for my attempt to blog the UofC Hunt. With any luck, I'll be able to get somewhat reasonable photos up, in addition to semi-regular posts. Feel free to comment.
My plan is to blog this trip as much as possible. A couple of people have asked for updates, and this seems to be the most efficient way of doing that. And it might serve well as a test run for my attempt to blog the UofC Hunt. With any luck, I'll be able to get somewhat reasonable photos up, in addition to semi-regular posts. Feel free to comment.
Saturday, March 20, 2004
California Kicks Some More Ass
This time, it's Harry Waxman, and his Iraq on the Record. There was a link from Atrios, but I can't find it again.
Friday, March 19, 2004
Home
Thought I had something more substancial to add, but apparently not. I'm in California for a couple of days, then back to Chicago Monday. Then out to Virginia Tuesday. I can promise that I'll blog the UVa hunt as much as possible, but I won't have a computer of my own with me, so it might not be as much as I would like to do.
Monday, March 15, 2004
Finals
1:30 the night before Finals begin, and I'm in the Reg trying to get a head start on this paper that's due Wednesday. The idea, of course, being that if I can hand this in Tuesday morning, I might actually be able to study for the E&M final first thing Wednesday morning.
Caffiene overdose setting in...
Caffiene overdose setting in...
Thursday, March 11, 2004
Why I'm proud of being a Californian
Via Maureen, I once again learn why I'm proud of my state.
And as an added bonus, we get why I think Republicans are the worst humans of the earth:
And by "worst humans on the earth," I mean "even worse than those Med students I ran into earlier this evening."
And as an added bonus, we get why I think Republicans are the worst humans of the earth:
Said Assemblyman Ray Haynes, R-Murrieta, "There's a reason why 14-year-olds and 16-year-olds don't vote. They are not adults. They are not mature enough. They are easily deceived by political charlatans."
And by "worst humans on the earth," I mean "even worse than those Med students I ran into earlier this evening."
Wednesday, March 03, 2004
Revolutions
My week thus far:
Batting 1.000 this week. Now we just have to get through the one paper, the other paper, and the three/soon-to-become-four problem sets.
- Sunday: 1st official dumpster diving outing
- Monday: secure two garlic pizzas for SPS meetings for the forseeable future
- Tuesday: Maroon article gets rave reviews
- Wednesday: kicked Physics exam's ass
Batting 1.000 this week. Now we just have to get through the one paper, the other paper, and the three/soon-to-become-four problem sets.
Red Line Shuttle
I wrote a bit on the SG-proposed Red Line Shuttle project. It ran in yesterday's Maroon:
The proposed Red Line shuttle is the wrong solution for the wrong concerns
Yay, now I'm a published author.
The proposed Red Line shuttle is the wrong solution for the wrong concerns
Yay, now I'm a published author.
Tuesday, March 02, 2004
Jose Canseco
Canseco's Tryout Has Novel Approach
I came across this in today's LA Times. Quite amusing to discover. The context of this is my favorite baseball game ever. My grandmother won four tickets to Game 1 of the 1988 World Series in an office pool. She took my father, my aunt, and my older brother. You'll remember that this is game Kirk Gibson hit the home run in the bottom of the 9th to win the game. The Dodgers went on to win the series 4-1.
Now, they beat the Oakland A's, who had won 104 games in the regular season. In addition to an amazing pitching staff, the A's also had the Bash Brothers, Mark Macguire and Jose Canseco. That was the last World Series the Dodgers were in.
I came across this in today's LA Times. Quite amusing to discover. The context of this is my favorite baseball game ever. My grandmother won four tickets to Game 1 of the 1988 World Series in an office pool. She took my father, my aunt, and my older brother. You'll remember that this is game Kirk Gibson hit the home run in the bottom of the 9th to win the game. The Dodgers went on to win the series 4-1.
Now, they beat the Oakland A's, who had won 104 games in the regular season. In addition to an amazing pitching staff, the A's also had the Bash Brothers, Mark Macguire and Jose Canseco. That was the last World Series the Dodgers were in.
Jon Stewart
Via CNN, we learn that Jon Stewart is Young America's news source. Not bad for a "fake news organization."
