From the journal of Steven H. Cullinane...
2005 September 01-30
Friday, September 30, 2005 11:28 AM
Thursday, September 29, 2005 6:00 AM
Bang Splat
"'He's still a great songwriter,' Aimee Mann says.
The sentiments in 'Things Have Changed,' from last year's 'Wonder Boys'
soundtrack, are 'brutal, relevant, and literally spine-tingling.'"
"Statistical Control: A new division of the
U.S. Air Force that came into existence in 1942. Statistical Control
Officers were trained at Harvard Business School and then assigned to
every Air Force command where [they] worked to apply standardized
procedures to statistical reporting and analysis. They served to
organize the movement of men, planes, and materiel, as well as provide
statistical analysis of bombing missions. This data was used by Air
Force commanders... as an essential factor in planning and the
quantitative measure of achievement. Robert McNamara was one the
original faculty members of the Statistical Control School at
Harvard...."
--
"The Fog of War" Glossary
From today's Harvard Crimson:
Former House Master Dead at 89
"Andrews discovered Harvard while studying at the Army Air Force’s
Statistical Control School, which was held at HBS and taught by HBS
faculty.
Having completed his Air Force service in 1946, Andrews
joined a multidisciplinary teaching group at HBS to develop a new
course called Administrative Practices."
"All the truth in the world
adds up to one big lie."
-- Dylan, "
Things Have Changed"
To St. Michael on his day (
9/29)
in the spirit of St. Cecilia's Eve (
11/21):
And Hennessey Tennessee tootles the flute,
And the music is somethin' grand;
A credit to old Ireland is McNamara's band.
Click on picture for details.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005 4:26 AM
Mathematical Narrative,
continued:
There is a pleasantly discursive treatment
of Pontius Pilate's unanswered question
"What is truth?"
-- H. S. M. Coxeter, introduction to
Richard J. Trudeau's
The Non-Euclidean Revolution
"People have always longed for truths about the world
-- not logical truths, for all their utility; or even probable truths,
without which daily life would be impossible; but informative, certain
truths, the only 'truths' strictly worthy of the name. Such truths I
will call 'diamonds'; they are highly desirable but hard to find....The
happy metaphor is Morris Kline's in Mathematics in Western Culture
(Oxford, 1953), p. 430."
-- Richard J. Trudeau,
The Non-Euclidean Revolution,
Birkhauser Boston,
1987, pages 114 and 117
"A new epistemology is emerging to replace the Diamond
Theory of truth. I will call it the 'Story Theory' of truth: There are
no diamonds. People make up stories about what they experience. Stories
that catch on are called 'true.' The Story Theory of truth is itself a
story that is catching on. It is being told and retold, with increasing
frequency, by thinkers of many stripes.... My own viewpoint is the
Story Theory.... I concluded long ago that each enterprise contains
only stories (which the scientists call 'models of reality'). I had
started by hunting diamonds; I did find dazzlingly beautiful jewels,
but always of human manufacture."
-- Richard J. Trudeau,
The Non-Euclidean Revolution,
Birkhauser Boston,
1987, pages 256 and 259
An example of
the story theory of truth:
Actress Gwyneth Paltrow ("Proof") was apparently born on either Sept.
27, 1972, or Sept. 28, 1972. Google searches yield "about 193" results for the 27th and "about 610" for the 28th.
Those who believe in the "story theory" of truth may therefore want to
wish her a happy birthday today. Those who do not may prefer the
contents of yesterday's entry, from Paltrow's other birthday.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005 6:23 AM
Mathematical Narrative
Gwyneth Paltrow is said to be 33 today.
Sunday, September 25, 2005 9:15 AM
Hint
Saturday, September 24, 2005 11:02 PM
Related material:
Thursday, September 22, 2005 11:01 PM
Wednesday, September 21, 2005 12:53 PM
Google News this afternoon:
Monday, September 19, 2005 2:00 PM
The Randomness
In yesterday's New York Times, science writer George Johnson quoted a
Buddhist:
"Though he professes to accept evolutionary theory, he recoils at one
of its most basic tenets: that the mutations that provide the raw
material for natural selection occur at random. Look deeply enough, he
suggests, and the randomness will turn out to be complexity in
disguise-- 'hidden causality,' the Buddha's smile. There you have it,
Eastern religion's version of intelligent design."
-- "The Universe in a Single Atom": Reason and Faith
God's Sermon:
The Randomness
Sunday
NY lottery
9/18/05 |
Sunday
PA lottery
9/18/05 |
| Midday: 748 |
Midday: 999
|
| Evening: 000 |
Evening: 709
|
Gamblers, religious zealots, and the insane may interpret the above
as utterances of Lady Luck, God, or The Conspiracy.
A Buddhist interpretation for the New York Times:
A Christian interpretation for the home state of Grace Kelly:
Sunday, September 18, 2005 2:45 AM
Barging In
On this date 100 years ago,
Greta Garbo was born.
For
Frank Rich,
who wrote a review
of a new novel,
On Beauty
For
George Johnson,
who wrote...
"Look deeply enough,
he suggests,
and the randomness
will turn out to be
complexity in disguise -
'hidden causality,'
the Buddha's smile.
There you have it...."
Saturday, September 17, 2005 1:06 PM
From Matt Glaser, Satchmo, the Philosopher:
"... the luminosity and perpetual freshness of Armstrong's music. These
qualities, as well as his essentially abstract ability to affect our perception
of time, link him with the other artistic and scientific
revolutionaries of the first half of the 20th century. Recently I had a
very public fantasy (in Ken Burns's Jazz) in which Werner
Heisenberg attends a Louis Armstrong concert in Copenhagen, in 1933.
Did I go too far? Actually, I didn't go far enough."
That Log24 entries connect both these dates to Louis Armstrong is, of
course, purely coincidental.
man smiling?
Saturday, September 17, 2005 1:09 AM
From www.ams.org:
Serge Lang, 1927-2005
"Serge Lang passed away on September 12 at the age of 78. Lang was a
professor at Yale University from 1972 to 2005. He received his Ph.D.
from Princeton University in 1951 under the direction of Emil Artin.
Lang was awarded the Frank Nelson Cole Prize in Algebra in 1960 and the
Leroy P. Steele Prize for Mathematical Exposition in 1999. He was well
known for his mathematics texts and was a member of the National
Academy of Sciences. [Item posted 9/15/05]"
From a review of one of Lang's books, Challenges:
"Again and again, Lang has caught powerful academics and journalists
at evasions, stonewalling, and intimidation. It's cost him considerable
time, effort, and money; it's also made him a lot of enemies. It
should be mentioned here that Professor Lang is also a productive
researcher in mathematics and a prolific author of books of
mathematics. I literally don't know how he does it. He must have
absolutely no life outside his office.
OK, sure, Lang is a crank. He's also a national treasure. His
commitment to the ethic of honesty and plain speaking should be an
example to us all."
Serge Lang,
May 19, 1927 -
September 12, 2005
Thursday, September 15, 2005 12:00 PM
Thursday, September 15, 2005 2:45 AM
Multimedia
"... the quality of life as of death
and of light as of darkness is one..."
-- Robinson Jeffers
(See previous two entries
and Dante,
Paradiso, 25.054.)
Wednesday, September 14, 2005 11:59 PM
Lutheran Rhythm, continued:
Square-Wheel Rhythm
(See previous entry.)
"This is a sane and sensible interpretation, deeply musicianly and
devoid of eccentricity. Her attitude, rather like Toscanini’s, is to
accept the text com’ e scritto (for example, she adopts the
'square-wheel' rhythm of the E minor Gigue) and then to make legitimate
adjustments...."
Wednesday, September 14, 2005 4:04 PM
Holy Cross Day
The Cross and the Wheel:
"... the quality of life as of death
and of light as of darkness is one,
one beauty, the rhythm of that Wheel,
and who can behold it is happy
and will praise it to the people."
-- Robinson Jeffers,
"Point Pinos and Point Lobos,"
quoted at the end of
The Cosmic Code by Heinz Pagels,
Simon & Schuster, 1982
Tuesday, September 13, 2005 3:00 AM
Al Casey, a guitarist whose playful acoustic rhythms and solos were a
defining feature of Fats Waller's band in the 1930's and 1940's, died
on Sunday [9/11] in Manhattan. He was 89....
Mr. Casey played and recorded with Louis Armstrong in 1944 when both
were recognized as leading jazz musicians in the Esquire magazine
readers' poll....
A 90th birthday celebration for Mr. Casey, scheduled for Thursday
evening at St. Peter's Church, 54th Street and Lexington Avenue, will
now be his musical memorial service, open to the public.
Monday, September 12, 2005 2:29 PM
Final arrangements, continued:
Justice at Heaven's Gate
"Gate --- Early term for a Jazz musician.
Armstrong is the original Swing Jazz player that's why they call
used to call him 'Gate.'"
-- All
About Jazz
"Armstrong is also frequently cited as the main source or
popularizer of words like scat, gate (a greeting among jazz musicians
that became a popular WWII term for a buddy or pal)²
² The term apparently goes back to Louis’s own adolescent nickname,
'Gatemouth.'"
-- Jazz Institute of Chicago
Saturday, September 10, 2005 8:23 PM
x
|
I need a photo-opportunity.
I want a
shot at redemption.
Don't want to end up a cartoon
In a cartoon graveyard.
— Paul Simon |
Saturday, September 10, 2005 3:00 PM
"When asked which words in the English language are the most difficult
to define precisely, a lexicographer would surely mention funky."
-- Answers.com
Funk, Wagnalls, and Company*
"Founded by Isaac Kaufmann Funk, a Lutheran minister who in 1876
began editing and publishing two magazines, The Homiletic Review
and The Voice, the latter for the Prohibition Party.
Unfortunately, neither magazine paid its way. The following year he
teamed with [one of his classmates at Wittenberg College] A.W.
Wagnalls, a lawyer and accountant, who got Funk on sounder financial
footing. They began by publishing pamphlets and booklets for the
clergy, mostly commentaries on the Bible."
-- Major American Publishers and Wikipedia
* Company: "The Grateful Dead"-- "a name chosen at random
from a dictionary-- some claim it was a Funk & Wagnalls, others an
Oxford Dictionary-- by Jerry Garcia"
-- Wikipedia
Saturday, September 10, 2005 4:11 AM
Related material:
Readings for St. Patrick's Day,
Log24.net, March 17, 2005,
featuring
Conrad's
Under Western Eyes.
Reading for the Saints of 9/11,
New York Times of Sunday, 9/11, 2005:
"The True Classic of Terrorism,"
Conrad's
Under Western Eyes.
And for some comic relief,
Harvard's President on St. Patrick's Day:
Professor Matory is "a renowned expert on Brazil and on
the Yoruba civilization of West Africa, which is world famous for its
religious complexity and artistic creativity. He is equally noted for
his study of such Latin American religions as Haitian 'Vodu,' Brazilian
Candomblé, and Cuban Santería...."
Play that funky music, white boy.
Saturday, September 10, 2005 2:00 AM
Sunday, September 4, 2005 2:00 PM
The Toys,
famed for their rendition
of Bach's Minuet in G
Friday, September 2, 2005 3:57 PM
Friday, September 2, 2005 9:57 AM
Soap
Faith
Faith is an island in the setting sun
But proof, yes
Proof is the bottom line for everyone
--
Paul Simon, "Proof"
Raise your weary wings
against the rain, my baby
Wash your tangled curls
with gambler's soap
--
Paul Simon, "Proof"
Lottery numbers for
Pennsylvania, Sept. 1, 2005:
"Proof is the bottom line for everyone"--
Day =
120
"Faith is an island in the setting sun"--
Evening =
511
See also
Giving the Devil His Due.
Counter started Oct. 31, 2005.
