Wavy wonder works

Beacon Marquee

For fun this past weekend, Pat and I attended the New York City version of Wavy Gravy’s 75th birthday celebration. It was just a gossamer disguise for yet another fund-raiser for the Seva Foundation, an organization that does and has been doing lots of good deeds hither and yon. Seva has worked with the World Health Organization and leading international ophthalmology people to prevent and treat blindness, promoted health and literacy for girls and women, created healthy water management systems for indigenous people, developed innovative ways to address diabetes in Native American communities, and completed many other successful projects.

Those dang TJ muzzles must be here somewhere

O.K. I hope I’ve set this up correctly so that this delightful image by artist Sam Welty is linked to the page that will show the TJ Center muzzles when they are announced on Mr. Jefferson’s B’day, 13 April 2011.

HB, Mr. Jefferson. Thanks for thinking about things.

HB Niels Bohr

It seems sort of fitting that in this season of the announcements of the Nobel prizes, it’s the birth day of a Nobel Laureate, Niels Bohr. Born in 1885 in Copenhagen, Denmark, Niels Henrik David Bohr became a professor and director of an institute of theoretical physics by age 33. Professor Bohr received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922 “for his services in the investigation of the structure of atoms and of the radiation emanating from them” (Nobel Prize citation). He was also the first recipient of another award because, in the judgment of the trustees of a foundation established to administer the Atoms for Peace Award, he was “among the world’s scientists, engineers, and others who… had made the greatest contribution to the development of peaceful uses of atomic energy” (Guide to Atoms for Peace Award Records). According to the Wikipedia entry about him, Professor Bohr was apparently a pretty fair footballer (soccer player) too. Professor Bohr’s son, Aage N. Bohr, also was a Nobel Laureate in Physics (1975).

Moving pictures!

Today is a great anniversary for the movies. Not only can we celebrate the 1889 demonstration attributed to Thomas Edison of the first motion picture (though William Lincoln’s “zoopraxiscope” predated it and Louis Lumiere “Cinematographe” really got the show rolling), but also we can raise a glass to the 1927 release of “The Jazz Singer,” the first of the feature-length “talkies” that people still seem to enjoy.

Amazing how things have changed. And, I wonder what it cost to get a ticket to see Al Jolson…anyone know? Answers.com says $0.25, but I recall paying that much in the 1950s, so it sounds a bit high. Maybe it was a nickel matinee in the 50s? Later this week we’ll pay many ones of dollars to see a matinee of the current release, “Social Network.”

HB SHG, RIP TF

While passing a belated b-day shout out to my fave, I’m wondering, has it really been a year since Transcendental Floss stopped publishing? Sheesh.

17th > 4th

It’s arithmetically trivial, but this equation is probably debatable for people who compare the dates for two documents that are important in US history: the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Because today is one of the anniversaries for the former, it’s worth taking a moment to contemplate their importance.

Adopted on 17 September 1787 by delegates from the governments of the states participating in an agreement among the 13 former British colonies on the North American continent, the Constitution supplanted the US Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. The Constitution created a stronger federal government than the Articles, resolving substantial economic and legal woes befalling the states under the latter.

Pre-race runs are cool but daunting

I ran Jay’s Wilderman’s race course this AM. It’s the local (CHO) Independence Day Race and Jay’s been directing it for something like 15 years (más o menos). It was a beauty-ful AM for such an event, especially given that there have been many sweltering races in the past and many sweltering days in the recent past. My guess is that today’s start was in the low 60s with modest humidity.

HB, Bob Davidson

Hoppy birdthay, Bob.

Today would be the 60-somethingth birthday of my friend, Bob Davidson. In his honor, I’ve taken an obligatory celebratory run and, true to Bob’s routine, I’m having a beer afterwards. Although the beer’s not Bob’s usual Bud (and I don’t drink beer often), the run was on trails and that’s quite fitting.

I recall more than one trail run with Bob, but one was sticking with me this morning. It was a Saturday morning in Phoenix in the early ’90s and he took me to South Mountain Park. We parked somewhere near where a lot of kids were riding mountain bikes (they were just becoming fashionable, or at least the fashion was just coming into my consciousness) and we took off on foot. Bob knew where he was going. Very soon we left the pavement and wound up on single-track paths. We ran and ran: up hills, down slopes that nearly required scrambling, along ridges, and through canyon bottoms.

HB, Founder

Just to the west of here, on the nearby ‘grounds,’ we’ll be celebrating the birthday of the university’s founder, Thomas Jefferson. Mr. Jefferson, as he’s known around these parts, was born in 1743 in Shadwell, a few miles to the east of where I sit. In addition to the sensational references to apparent mis-steps and perhaps even one or a few about T.J. and the Revo (thanks, Parker), there are sure to be very many references to the many, many excellent ideas Mr. Jefferson provided to humankind and his accomplishments, including founding U.Va. It’ll be a wonderful day here.

B. F. Skinner’s b’day

B. F. Skinner was born on this day in 1904 in Susquehanna, PA (US). He changed the way we understand animal behavior (and humans are animals).

Our great advantage in relation to other species is that we can describe things, form complex hypotheses, and etc. That’s also one of our great disadvantages, as we too often confirm false hypotheses and many of those hypotheses have to do with mythical and mystical mental representations of the causes of our behavior. Skinner pushed back the curtains and showed how we learn to behave the way we do.