So true

Just switch out Batman for Superman and it's me.

I've recently decided to start using iGoogle because I discovered that they have some really fun comic themes. I really don't need to use it because I never look at all the feeds, but it's still fun to see comics. Perhaps I'll have to start using Google Calendar once school starts.

I was going through my wallet recently and found that I had three BN gift cards, so since it is close to where I play soccer on Sundays I decided to head in and see if there was anything I wanted. So now I have three new fiction books on top of all the very interesting library books I found when I was on campus on Friday and I have to decide if I want to read The General Theory (Keynes) or a book on Superman and Batman. Start placing your bets now.

Yesterday was the penultimate day of the Tour de France, which is really the last day for placement among the overall leaders. We had a bunch of people over and had pasta with pesto sauce (made from fresh ingredients). It was quite fun, with people over with whom I can talk about anything from Popperian philosophy to Scotch to Firefly.

Soccer is Life (the rest is just details)

This weekend begins the pre-season soccer tournament portion of my summer. It's a bit difficult for me to adjust to soccer up here because it is so different from how I grew up playing. When I was playing, we took the winter off (at least before I got to high school) and played tournaments all through the summer. If people were gone for a week, they made sure they were back for the tournament on the weekend, and we didn't consistently have half of the team show up for practice.

But up here, I just can't figure out why about half the parents on my team seem to think that it's okay to miss one, even two tournaments. My family would have never done that (unless absolutely necessary due to a family reunion or something).

Suffice to say, it hasn't been a great summer of practicing. There's only so much I can do when only 8 or 9 kids show up to practice. Unfortunately for those that show up ever week, we have to repeat a lot of things, because it's impossible to move on to more difficult ideas until everybody has had a chance to work on the basics.

Then there's also the problem of none of them coming to practice willing to work. Half of them giggle most of the time, and the other half just go through the motions, not even trying. Practice was never the strong part of my game until high school (I just need pressure to perform well), but at least I had a work ethic at practice. My team won't run unless I sit there yelling at them the whole time.

Anyways, all this leads to me being very worried about our tournament that are happening in August, not the least because I don't even know who is going to show up for them. But we finally had a good practice last night (even if it was with only 8 of them), so hopefully it won't be as bad as I expect.

I should add that while I love winning, that's never my goal when I coach. My goal is that we should improve every game, so perhaps it's good (in a wrong sort of way) if we start at a really low spot.

Of course, none of this is helped by the fact that we don't have a goalie..... anybody know how to doctor birth certificates?

Probably just heat stroke

I used to think I was purely a mountains person. If I was asked where I would like to spend a vacation, I was much more likely to say something like Yosemite or Yellowstone than Santa Barbara or Los Angeles (at least if relatives weren't involved in the decision). But in the last couple of years, I've gotten a much more healthy respect for the beach as a place both to vacation and to live.

I think the problem was that I always associated the beach with doing nothing but playing in the water, while I associated the mountains with all sorts of fun things like hiking, camping, and other assorted activities (or course, the best of both worlds was the ranch in SB, but that's an entirely different story).

Lately, I've discovered that the beach has many things to offer: it's own brand of hiking, frisbee in the sand, kayaking, volleyball, and various other pursuits.

Suffice to say that I no longer see no point in living at the beach, and I wouldn't be disappointed if I end up near it at my next location of higher learning. Or perhaps I'm finally getting tired of much-too-hot summers and want to live someplace cooler.

Pipe Dream

I was intrigued by this pipe going no where at Malibu this weekend when I visited the beach. Here's the full color shot for those of you who like a bit of color in your photos.

Too much protein

I don't normally consider myself an adventurous eater, but I did my level best this weekend to not be myself. On Saturday I tried 8 different types of animal (skipped the shrimp) and 19 different wines (there were an additional 4 on Friday evening). This was all interspersed with two state beaches completely with the requisite frisbee throwing. I think my system went into shock with all that protein that it isn't used to getting.

Then we stopped in Ventura and spent some time with Natalie and Scott, playing games and just enjoying the nice weather in general. I'm really trying to think of a better way to spend the weekend, and just can't. Only thing that would have made it better would have been more friends. Anybody want to start making an annual trip out of this (I promise you won't be disappointed). I'll put up some pictures later.

CNN

I'm in the airport waiting for my (delayed) flight, and I look up at the television. CNN is showing the following headline "Polygamists vs. Drug Cartels." Can't hear the story, but I suddenly have visions of a potential made-for-TV movie.

Cryptonomicon

I've spent the last few days mostly reading a hefty book by Neal Stephenson called Cryptonomicon. Rob read it first and I'm highly enjoying it. On the surface, it seems like a very rambly book, taking over half the page count to finally get to where the mystery starts to reveal itself. I'm about two-thirds through now and I'm still not entirely sure what the point of it is.

But the characters are very likable and engrossing. It's a story told in three main parts). Two of the parts are parellel stories set during WWII and the third is set in the present day. There's lots of math, code breaking, and techno-talk, but at the same time there's plenty of military action for those who need a little less cerebral plot.

I'd suggest it for anybody looking for a challenge (it's abour 1200 pages long) and enjoys thinking about patterns and math (you don't necessarily have to know a lot about math, and you may even learn some math names to drop at parties).

Flare

I watched Star Trek again, this time on the IMAX. I was struck again by something that I noticed the first time: the lens flares on most of the scenes. Watching it the first time, I didn't like it, but this second time I was a bit more accepting. It was obviously manufactured (most of the flare is in scenes in space) and I can't really figure out why they would have chosen to do that. Possibly to make it more life like?

But the thing is, I like my Scifi movies to be flashy and polished, which is perhaps why I didn't like the effect ruining things. It did seperate the movie from the shows, none of which (to my knowledge) exhibit any lens flare. Also, when did that become the in thing? I'm pretty sure I've seen it in other movies (although none are coming to mind). To me flare has always seemed to mean that they did do a good job framing the shot. Perhaps I'll have to change my outlook on it.

4th of July

So I was stuck in Sacramento for the 4th this year because my cousins flew in from Italy today. It's fine, because I'm still a bit out of sorts from being sick all week.

I spent some time sitting on the front lawn watching the neighbors set off fireworks, but they seemed rather pathetic this year. None of them seemed to last very long, nor were they very interesting. Perhaps it was the fact that I wasn't lighting things on fire.

Now I'm sitting inside watching Casino Royale, because what could be more patriotic than showing a marathon of movies about a British spy on the USA network? I've realized that while I'm not yet prepared to admit that Daniel Craig is the best Bond (I haven't seen the second one yet) I am willing to admit that he is the best looking one.

Space Camp

So the best part of camp is the day we get to spend at the Challenger Center. The day is centered around a simulated space mission, which, in my opinion, isn't great (although last year I apparently saw the lamer of the two missions).


The other parts of the day involve setting off rockets and building cars.


This was the day that I was most happy that I had my new toy.
Can't wait to set off more rockets next year.

Back, but too tired to post much

I saw Transformers and it was exactly what I wanted in the movie. Lots of fighting, flashy cars, and pretty explosions. I'm really looking forward to GI Joe, which looks to promise much of the same, although possibly more plot. But really, in the summer movies I watch at theaters, plot is usually just a bonus.

The first third of my summer was very busy, and I'm looking forward to a bit more relaxation now. I also have a considerable amount of work that I should get done before the Fall semester starts, but we'll see how that goes.

More to update, but don't really feel like it today. I still feel like I haven't caught up with everything that happened when I didn't have my normal internet access.

New toy

Despite my fear of turning into Robert, I recently bought a new toy. See if you can figure out what it is.

Free!

Robert sent me an article on Wired about how 'Free' is the next business model. Basically, it comes down to this: In a perfectly competitive market, price drop to the marginal cost, so if the marginal cost drops to $0, then prices will drop to zero.

Of course, it's difficult to find a market that is actually perfectly competitive (homogeneous product, many producers, no barriers to entry in the market), yet some markets in the internet come close. I'm thinking of some music, video, and game markets on the internet. Also email providers (gmail, yahoo).

Of course, the price of these aren't always zero, due to the fact that some companies sell advertising on their sites where they provide a free service (Pandora), but I would assume that those are used to because the marginal cost of services isn't actually zero. And there is that pesky little thing called fixed costs to deal with.

Anyways, interesting article. I won't completely retell it, because you can just click on the link if you're interested. Oh, and there's a longer one here.

Also, strangely, I dreamed about Zeno's paradox last night, and here it is in an article. And I'm not going to decide which is weirder, me dreaming about Zeno's paradox, or it showing up that same day in something I'm reading.

Note to self:

Next time you're thinking of spending more than a week in Bakersfield, just stop thinking.

Top of the World

My rather long weekend started on Thursday when I headed up to Sacramento for my cousin's graduation ceremony. When I heard there were only about 300 graduates, I figured that the ceremony would only be an hour or so, but apparently when there aren't 700 graduates, you don't have to figure out how to be efficient, and the ceremony lasted about 2.5 hours. Lame.

Friday I took the train down to Fresno where my brother picked me up to head to our annual Yosemite camping trip. The weather was really strange (for June) and the entire valley was covered in clouds. Made for some interesting pictures. Luckily the rain had stopped by the time it turned dark, so we were able to enjoy the campfire and stay dry.

Somehow on Friday evening, I ended up agreeing to do Half Dome in the morning. I had been thinking about doing it, but never said for sure when suddenly it was just assumed that I was going. Never one to turn down a perceived challenge, I agreed to go with some people who had never been to Yosemite. Unfortunately, when the morning came they had decided it was too early to get up and decided not to go.

But since I was already up early, I figured I'd do it anyways (with the company of Soren and John Stewart). The hike is 16.4 miles roundtrip (via the short route which I didn't take because it's killer on my back) so I ended up going more like 18.4 miles. There's also a 4,800 foot elevation climb, including the 400 feet of cables at the very end to get on the top of the dome. Officially, the hike is supposed to take 10-12 hours, not including any time spent on the top (for the shorter version, mind you).

I got up and back in 8 hours, which included time spent on the top, which was between 45 minutes and an hour. It was awesome being up above the clouds and seeing them roll onto the top of the dome.


I had done this hike before (when I was working at camp), but I had apparently blocked the worst part of the hike from my memory - the last mile or so before getting to the cables. It's steps which are very hard on my back to begin with, especially when they are too tall steps that keep going on forever.



I didn't stop for the entire 7ish miles on the way back, mostly because I knew if I stopped (or even slowed down) I probably wouldn't feel like continuing for a couple hours, by which time I would have tightened up. It was actually easier to try and go faster and get into a longer stride than shorten up my steps and take it easy. I know, strange.

Later that night we were sitting around the campfire eating brown bears and s'mores and people were trying to figure out why I killed myself by doing the hike so fast. They asked me if I ran (only a little) and I told them I have the same trouble with running - if I see somebody in front of me I think, "Must catch them!" (which is why I like running where nobody else is, so I don't try to kill myself), and I had this same thought on the trail. Plus, I was honestly feeling pretty good (my back didn't hurt at all!) and I kind of wanted to see how fast I could do the hike.

Summer books

So I think I'll share what I'll be reading/watching this summer while I wait for the semester to start . I'm planning on hitting a bunch of economic books from history (like The Wealth of Nations and The General Theory), but also some other, quicker reads. First off is a book called Sophie's World.

This is a book about the history of philosophy. Sounds pretty dull to most of you, I bet. But it's actually a novel. I've only just started, but it does indeed appear that it is going to go through the entire history of philosophy, describing all the major players and what they thought. I've only just gotten to Socrates, and I'm enjoying it immensely. I should mention that it was recommended to me by a friend up in Sacramento who read it with his Jr. High age daughter, so it can't be too horrible or dense.

There appears to be a mystery of sorts in it, and I'm really looking forward to finishing it. Anybody interested in understanding how we think the way we do currently might think about reading it. I'll post more once I finish.

I've also been watching Dead Like Me, which was a short-lived Showtime television show. It's very sarcastic and a little dark, which suits me just fine. Unfortunately, it was only around for two seasons, although it looks like they did release a movie that should hopefully close up loose ends.

Basic plot: A 20ish year old dies rather abruptly and is put to work as a grim reaper. She releases the souls of people who are about to die rather gruesome deaths so they aren't stuck with their bodies in the aftermath of such brutality for all of eternity. Her main companions are other grim reapers, all of whom have issues as big as hers. Along the way, she struggles to figure out what the point of her (un)life is and help her family who can no longer recognize her.

The writing is good, the characters are interesting in a very screwed up way, and there's an overall purpose to the characters doing what they're doing. It's also pretty dry, which I enjoy greatly.

Next up after I finish these projects: The Lost Room (short-lived SciFi channel series), Professor Lambert and the Curious Village (a DS game) and either the Cryptonomicon or Quicksilver (both by Neil Stephenson).

Organization

Amazing how much time I can spend organizing things like my bookshelves, dvd shelves, and external hard drives, especially considering I'll spend no time organizing the rest of my room.

At least I know what my priorities are.

Evil friend

Robert is evil. Both times this semester that I've had a lengthy paper due, he's provided me with new a new project/information. The first time was a link to a code that I then had to solve the day before my paper was due. Luckily, about 10 minutes after being sent the link, the paper was given an extension, so I was able to decipher the code without guilt or time constraint.

Then tonight, as I'm trying to work on my take home final, he sends me information on the Netflix contest that has apparently been going on for years. The contest is to create an algorithm that does a better job at guessing user ratings based on previous ratings then their current method. Movies, econometrics, and computers? I suddenly wish I knew more about programing algorithms than I do, not because I want to try for the prize, but because I just want to play.

Oh well. Back to economic history.

Photoshopping

I've been having way too much playing with the hue and saturation in Photoshop lately. Of particular amusement has been finding pictures from when I was younger and wore very bright clothing and taking some of the colors out. This leaves me with an almost black and white photograph, but there are still bright colors showing through.

Can't wait to get home and find even more photos to scan and edit.