There's bluegrass music in the air.

After a short retracement gold is on the way up again. The price of gold has more to do with the value of the dollar than the value of gold.
But there's bluegrass music in the air. That means good music for most of the day. This afternoon the Marty Stuart show is on RFD-TV. Where else can you see Emmy Lou Harris or Merle Haggard? Now if we can just get more Nanci Griffith! Get the bliss where and when you can find it. Ain't Saturday grand?
Last night both cats chose to stay out all night. Even food won't get them in until I'm in bed. They'll come in when it rains (which we could use anyway).
RFD-TV is proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

Well, it was good while it lasted.

Another day gone by and nothing has changed. I did get a note from my primary physician at Kaiser that he is moving his practice. Well, it was good while it lasted.
The weather has been near perfect for the last few days. The predicted highs in the 90's never materialized. The cats seem to prefer being out of doors so it's a chore to get them in at night. Even threatening them with wild coyotes in the dark doesn't faze them. And then at 2 am they decide they want in. I'm just pussy whipped I guess.
Wild coyotes are proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

No news is good news.

No news is good news and the good news is that I have no news. That's all I have to say today.
No news is proof that we''re all on this flight together.

Dick

Cool but not too chilly.

When I left on my walk this morning the temperature was 56 degrees in the shade. Cool but not too chilly. But in the Sun it was quite different. It was proof that light is quantized as photons which heat one like little bullets as the kinetic energy of the photons was converted to heat. Wavelike light couldn't heat anything this much. The sun was welcome as it chased the chill away.
The signs were still up announcing the missing cat I didn't see any cats today. A few mushrooms in the usual place but no animals.
The book on the Holographic Universe has drifted a little bit. The author often claims that an effect can bee explained by a holographic universe but doesn't say how. A little disappointing.
But still...
A Holographic Universe is proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick

A lost cat in the neighborhood.

There is a notice of a lost cat in the neighborhood. The picture looks just like Budda except for a mustache that Budda doesn't have. I never did see the cat. But then I didn't see any other animals either.
The book by Susskind explains how a holographic universe would come to be and the book by Talbott is more concerned with how a holographic universe would explain a lot of paranormal events in addition to more traditional effects. Talbott accepts the research of others while Susskind developed the theory of the Universe as a hologram. The two books g together like salt and pepper shakers.
Or not.
Lost cats are tragic proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

Cowboys were a bust.

Too many people in too small a space with everything going on at once. Rude people always standing in the front. Ugh! The only redeeming grace was a guy made up like Roy Rogers right down to the pancake makeup. I only stayed a half an hour. After I left I drove up to the Griffith Observatory hoping to find a parking place at the top. No luck but the drive down the back way was nice. It's been a looong time since I just drove with no real goal in mind. But I took nary a single photo.
The Griffith Observatory is proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

In the news.

"North Korea says it will use its "nuclear deterrent" in response to joint US-South Korean military exercises this weekend."
R Reagan said if he acted crazy enough our opponents couldn't be sure he wouldn't nuke them.
Sound familiar.
Aphorisms are proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

Miscellaneous but important info.

The cats have been acting funny for the last week. When I let them out they wouldn't allow me to later round them up and put them indoors for the night. I assumed it was because of the heat so I left the back door open all night as a concession to them. It was too hot indoors. If I had the energy I'd set up my sleeping bag in the backyard and join them out there. I don't like to leave them out overnight and don't like leaving the door open so last night I kept them in and were they unhappy. Then I realized that there is a (nearly) full moon. That explains everything . Whew!
Tomorrow is the National Day of the Cowboy and Cowgirl. There will be a celebration if all things cowboy or cowgirl at the Autry Museum near Griffith Park. I think I'll try to get up there for a few hours. Sounds like fun
The first book I read about holograms was "The Holographic Universe" by Michael Talbot. Written in 1980 it was a book that gave me cause for great thought. Primarily it was a possible explanation for super natural events like telekinesis. But here, thirty years later, we have Leonard Susskind offering a mathematical proof that our Universe truly is a hologram.
One of the characteristics of a hologram is that the information it contains is spread throughout the whole hologram. So if one cuts a hologram in half, each half will reconstruct the entire object although slightly degraded. Each time the film is cut each of the remaining pieces can reconstruct the entire object, again slight degraded.
Now if as claimed, our memories are stored as a hologram, the quality of a recalled memory can be degraded if there is a mechanism to 'cut the hologram in pieces'. That would explain why two minds subject to the same environmental effects could have different memories of an event and why Einstein could invent relativity and explain the quantization of light and I couldn't. We each have our own degraded hologram of the Master Hologram. It would explain why your memory of an event might be different than mine. It could also explain senility and Alzheimer's.
Or not.
Holography is proof that were all on this flight togther.
Dick

A philosophical consideration.

As usual on my morning walk I was mentally meandering about nothing in particular when thoughts of the Flying Spaghetti Monster popped into my mind. I don't remember what the particular thought was but the consequence is that went to the home page of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Based around a letter written to the Kansas Board of Education it is beautiful and pungent satire. And the output of the adherents is wondrous indeed Check it out.
http://www.venganza.org/
and scroll down to see the graph relating global average temperature and the number of pirates. The conclusion is that we need more pirates to limit global warming. Check out the box to its left for visual proof of creation as preached by the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

It's gloomy June in July... again.

It's gloomy June in July... again. For today I have nothing more to add.
Adding more would prove that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

700th post to this blog.

This is the 700th post to this blog. Whew. That's longer than most TV shows. Makes me proud.
Over the week end Rick and Deb visited Gryphon Instruments with my Martin guitar. I bought it from them in the '70's and it served me admirably. They had converted it from a nylon string guitar to a steel string guitar before I bought it. At any rate, Rick and Deb sold it for me so it will find a better home. Thanks to both of you and to Gryphon.
The quirky Glen Beck is asking folks to pray for him. He claims he may have macular degeneration and may be going blind. He believes it to be the result of left wing adversaries fact checking his statements. But that's not the point. This is karma in action. Recall that the claimant to excellence in broadcasting lost his hearing (he speaketh evil) then Beck may lose his sight (he see-eth evil everywhere). The third member of the monkey group would be Fox News which promotes the dissemination of evil. Monkey see, monkey do. While like the monkeys in the zoo they jerk off and throw shit.
Vintage Martin guitars are proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

It's gonnna cool off today... a little.

It's gonnna cool off today... a little. Very high cirrus clouds have moved in to cool us off from 95 down to 85 degrees. The poor cats don't understand what's happening. It's just been too damn hot. But then I could be back East where it is hotter still and humid to boot. Count our blessings. Think about the guy who had no shoes and met a guy with no feet.
I continue to understand dark flow.
Or not.
Hot days are proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

It's gonna be hot again!

It's gonna be hot in the old town again! There's reputed to be a high sitting right over us keeping the warm air hot. This photon anomaly is expected to last until Wednesday. Yesterday it was so hot it was intolerable indoors. The garage was a little cooler in the shade. After Wednesday the worst of the Bush environment policies will be a thing of the past (I hope).
Dark Flow. The more I think about it the more sensible it sounds to me. If there is indeed a flow directed toward a point in space, one of the few possibilities is that there is matter from another universe just beyond our horizon. So near and yet so far. But it would support the Multiverse Theory which says there are an infinite number of universes out there beyond our reach, Some habitable and some deadly.
Or not.
Proving a Multiverse would be proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

It's gonna be hot and who cares about dark flow anyway?

It's gonna be hot and who cares about dark flow anyway?
At 6:30 am the temperature was already 75 degrees. The sun was barely showing over the horizon so its contribution was muted. With clear skys making way for the sunny photons to heat us up the temperature is forecast to be in the 90's today. Hot hot hot!
Yesterday's blog entry accounted for all the mass/energy in our Universe. Ordinary matter, dark matter and dark energy account for all there is in the Universe. However there was another mysterious force discussed on the electric TV the other day. Dark flow. There is a gravitational force drawing galaxies in a preferred direction. Something is out there pulling all the galaxies in that volume of the sky. Causing a small flow of everything out there. This could be evidence of the multiverse theory which suggests that there is an infinity of universes out there beyond ours. We can't see them because they are beyond our horizon of 14 billion years but if there is a universe at 15 billion years it could affect us gravitationally but no photons could reach us.
Dark flow is proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

Does dark matter matter?

Does dark matter matter? You betcha! When I went to school we were taught that there are neutrons, protons, electrons, photons and a scattering of miscellaneous particles. That was all there was. Everything we can see or touch is made of those particles. Until someone found that galaxies were rotating faster than they should accounting for the mass of the galaxies. So some bright physicist invented dark matter. No idea what it is or what it does, except the effect gravity has on it. OK, It's a correction to the Standard Model so everything is accounted for. Still it took twice as much proposed dark matter than ordinary matter to make everything work out correctly.
EXCEPT.... there arose the problem of an expanding Universe, which according to all theories should be slowing down. Easily solved. Invent dark energy. As gravity is an attractive force, dark energy is a repulsive force causing the Universe to expand faster than expected. Another correction to the Standard Model. This time the correction is five times the total of dark and ordinary matter!
In an ordinary infinite series the 'corrections' get progressively smaller as the series gets longer. Here the corrections get larger. This screams for a single equation of four or five components to account for all the corrections at once. Sort of an Einstein move.
An Einstein move would be proof that we're all on this fligiht together.
Dick

It's almost like being there.

The sun was up and the temperature held at 71 degrees. The major difference observed during my morning walk was the prevalence of ants crossing the walk way. Not prodigious amounts but a trail here and there. No mammals spotted but two aeroplanes cruised overhead.... separately.
On a more philosophical note... The Cosmic Landscape continues to dominate my attention in the morning. Susskind makes thing so understandable, until I forget it all. Continuous references to Einstein, Dirac, Pauli, Heisenberg and all the other great physicists of the founding of quantum science. It's almost like being there.
Once again brother Bob has demonstrated that "Getting old is not for sissies" and got away with it. Get better soon. You must be worth a million dollars in replacement body parts by now.
The Cosmic Landscape is proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

Another New Yorker.

On the left is a photo of a new species of mushroom in the same location as the smaller ones we've seen in the past. Here the cap his twice the size, flatter and darker brown color.
On the right is a squirrel that crossed the street to greet me before disappearing up a tree.
In the past I have noted how so many accomplished physicists are from the New York City area. I just realized that Nobel Prize winner Steven Weinberg graduated from the same high school as Leonard Susskind. Particle physicists all. What is common to so many outstanding people? How can we turn out more like them? Or has their time come and gone?
A new species of mushroom is proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

Gloomy June... again

Gloomy June (July) is still with us but usually clears up mid-day. The morning gloom keeps the days generally cooler. Life's a bitch in Paradise.
While not generally gloomy, gloom does tend to make me feel more lackadaisical than usual. Not much get-up-and-go in the tank. But we know this too will pass.
Gloomy the weather is proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

June Gloom in July?

June Gloom in July? Yes indeedy. Gloomier than usual but forecast to clear weather around 75 degrees. Doesn't sound so gloomy now.
But there were no animals on my walk and come to think of it, it's been a while since I've seen any form of flying craft during my walks.
The other day I was sitting quietly watching the electric TV when all of a sudden the world stated to shake. Just a little bump followed by two small rollers. Not too bad. The scariest quake I've been in was in SF. That was a shaker!
Although we may experience them differently, earthquakes are proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

Nature gives up her secrets verrry reluctantly.

The morning walk is getting harder and harder by the day. By the end of the walk everything above my waist aches plus both knees. Getting old is not for sissies.
Getting old is not for sissies. A real truism. Another is the lesson Charlie Anderson taught me,"Nature gives up her secrets verrry reluctantly". Charlie was my first boss out of college. Bless his heart wherever he is.
Leonard Susskind contnues to tear away the veil of secrecy from black holes and the escape of information therefrom. We're still reviewing the basics but soon, so soon. Which segues to "What does Leonard Sussknd have that I don't? Or Einstein, Feynman or Hawking? We all have the same number of brain cells presumably arranged in roughly the same way at birth. Where does the change take place and can anyone make the change? If not why not? I suppose there is a plethora of students of intelligence but have found no final answer. Maybe it's like dark energy, we're not supposed to know the answer.... yet. If these are learnable skills why hasn't some one bottled the answer and sold it resulting in more numerous intelligentsia. And why the concentration around New York?
Question such as these are proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick

"Yankee Doodle Dandy" and me.

The cat is one we're seen before. Very friendly but some one doesn't take very good care of him. His collar shows no name. His fur is all matted. He seems healthy but the fur on his flanks is badly matted. The poor guy fur had dew on his back this morning so I suppose he spent the night out.
Yesterday I watched the annual movie showing on TV of "Yankee Doodle Dandy". Jimmy Cagney in all his glory not shoving a grapefruit in some molls face but singing and dancing. "Mary", "45 Minutes from Broadway", "It's a Grand Old Flag"and all the other toe tapping songs. One hit after another. Bless your heart George M. Cohan wherever you are. Cagney could sing and dance better than any gangster role he made famous. It's a Grand Old Movie with a genuine movie star. They don't make them like that any more.
I've started re-reading the book by Leonard Susskind about his 'battle' with Stephen Hawking about information and black holes. Susskind was born in the Bronx in New York, another brilliant New Yorker. It must have been something in the water. At age 16 he made a living doing plumbing. That hands on work surely contributed to his down-to-earth approach to physics. He is after all one of the founders of String Theory.
A first class physicist who was a plumber is proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

Happy July Fourth!

And a joyous day it is. Parades and fireworks express the emotion of the occasion. But since today is also Sunday, this is the day I meditate on the military deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan. It has always been obvious that the large majority of deaths in both countries is the use of improvised roadside bombs by our adaptable adversaries. The question has frequently arisen in my mind, "How quickly would the cruel damage of roadside bombs be solved if the target were not disposable GI's but congressmen and senators?". My guess is overnight. Which is more valuable to us in today's environment; self-centered politicians or our brave soldiers? But our representatives have neither the vision nor the inclination to meet the challenge. Eliminating the threat of improvised explosive devices would reduce the deaths of our young soldiers in the two wars by 50-75%. Profiles in courage indeed!
Improvised explosive devices are proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

What we know about dark energy...

What we know about dark energy... NOTHING! After two decades we have no idea what it is or what causes it. 75% of the matter/energy in the Universe and we don't know diddly squat about it. It's been conjectured that dark energy caused the expansion of the Universe in its earliest nanoseconds. It's even been suggested that the field that caused the expansion was in the shape of a Mexican hat. But we can't see dark energy and we can't feel it. We can see its gravitational effects but that's it. Still a wonderment.
I started the book by Teller, the father of the H bomb. I despised his politics when he was alive and I find his book too pedantic. Personal? I think not. But like Kissinger, Teller never saw a war on which he didn't want to drop an H bomb. And he uses complex equations to explain simple ideas. This is not a graduate course after all.
Politically programed fear is proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

I have nothing to say today but here is a photo.

I have nothing to say today but here is a photo of a live steam train taken in the yester-day.
0-branes are proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick