Well, you’re right. The cutest toddler in the universe turns three today: Happy birthday, SteelyKid!
Month: August 2011
Links for 2011-08-06
Chuck Klosterman on Planet of the Apes and Project Nim – Grantland I’m a pretty massive Planet of the Apes fan, even though I’m never able to watch an entire Planet of the Apes movie without reading a magazine. It’s definitely my favorite film franchise that’s 80 percent boring. I really, really love the first… Continue reading Links for 2011-08-06
Fringe Thoughts
Last week, I asked for advice on the show Fringe, because I need to be able to speak sensibly about it for the purpose of talking about parallel universes. I’ve been working through Janne’s list of recommended episodes, watching on my laptop while SteelyKid goes to sleep, and have got up through the Season 3… Continue reading Fringe Thoughts
Links for 2011-08-05
Chuck Klosterman on the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction – Grantland "[T]hat’s what’s so weird about the whole Hall of Fame process: The public sees it as an argument, but — within the mind of the elite athlete — it must be one of the most confusing, painfully personal scenarios they’ll ever experience. Being… Continue reading Links for 2011-08-05
Thursday Taller Blogging 080411
As she never tires of telling us, SteelyKid keeps getting bigger and bigger. How big? She can touch the ceiling! OK, she has to be on my shoulders to do it, but the distance between her head and the ceiling has gotten really small. She’s huge! the picture above was taken by Kate standing a… Continue reading Thursday Taller Blogging 080411
On the Broadening of Impact
I didn’t pay that much attention to the mini-controversy over the NSF’s proposed revision of its grant evaluation criteria when they were first released, because I was working on the book. I was asked to say something about it yesterday, though, and having gone to the trouble, I might as well say something on the… Continue reading On the Broadening of Impact
Fracking Liars
Back at the AAAS Meeting, I was really annoyed by a session on fracking, the process by which natural gas is extracted from shale deep underground. As I wrote at the time, regarding the industry shills who spoke: I left before the whole thing had wrapped up, because it was that or start throwing stuff… Continue reading Fracking Liars
Links for 2011-08-04
The science and magic of beer | Andy Connelly | Science | guardian.co.uk "Beer is the juice of grain skilfully treated: it is liquid bread. The first people to make beers as we know them today were the Sumerians, who cultivated cereal grains specifically for brewing and drank beer to honour their gods. Many cultures… Continue reading Links for 2011-08-04
Adulthood Never Ends
Several weeks ago, now, SteelyKid flipped out at bedtime. We had told her that the episode of MythBusters playing on the DVR was the last one for the night, but when it ended, she demanded more. When we said no, she went into a full-on toddler freakout, screaming, crying, kicking the floor. I eventually carried… Continue reading Adulthood Never Ends
Quantum Politics
In the “ideas I wish I’d thought of first” file, the Canberra Times has an op-ed comparing politicians to quantum objects, because they seem to hold contradictory positions at the same time, and are impossible to pin down. It garbles the physics a little, and is very specific to Australia, though, so let’s see if… Continue reading Quantum Politics