Random Updatia

Well, Justin is now heading Northeast with patrixa... this, of course, will leave me without a sous-chef for the cookout on Saturday. That, and we're just getting into the swing of things with Gipf (via the most excellent Gipf-for-One.) We still haven't tackled the standard rules, let alone tournament rules or potentials or any of that sort of thing. Actually, I'm pretty sure Gf1 doesn't do potentials. I did watch the computer kick the computer's rear in tournament version, however.

We have a theory - backed by a pattern - that who ever plays white loses, but in a series of computer vs. computer basic games, white did win once. We will do our best to disprove this theory, and owe it more to the psychological belief, backed by the first three games white (me) lost, Justin simply picked up the nuances of the game quicker. That, and watching the computer self-play, we ripped apart its strategy as it often seemed to leave very decent moves alone and choose to give up opportunity after opportunity for no discernible gain.

I blame the Instrument Petting Zoo at Common Ground on the Hill. It's a convenient target, I suppose. If they had a lute there, I didn't play it. Despite all that, I give you the 13-course Berkholtzer baroque lute by Danial Larson. Note that this doesn't replace my long-standing obsession with the Wechter Florentine Cutaway Nylon String or even a less-linkable recently dawning interest in 8-string classical guitars, rather it is an addition. And, as everyone knows addition leads to multiplication, which inevitably ends in subtraction. Already 1 guitar has become 2 guitars and 1 lute, and $5k has become closer to $15k, which of course, has to come directly out of a wallet that, alas, is filled with rather imaginary numbers. Math and guitars are quite closely related, don't you see.


Rachel, who has now claimed the title Master Potter, offered a course yesterday, and instructed patrixa, Deb, and Justin in the making of a pot from clay. Brandon napped through it while I was still working - finished the project I was working on, actually.

Recently Heard: Revenge by Bill Cosby

Bill Cosby: Revenge

This recording is not entirely new to me, it's replacing -wait for it- vinyl. Yes. Vinyl.

I don't recall how old I was when I found a stack of Cos stuff at a yard sale for maybe five or ten cents each, but I do know how deeply the material embedded itself and helped shape and form the world as I saw it. I really enjoyed watching Justin's reactions to this, as he's heard much of it from me. The spiel on slushballs resurfaced during more than one snowball fight. When the kids would jump on me, I'd often say things like "What was that, a mosquito?" and "Someone threw a piece of paper on me." And, of course, there was talk of monsters, closets, and covers.

Listening to all of this again brought home exactly how much of his material still has an impact on me, some thirty years after I first heard it, and some forty (maybe even fifty) or more years since it was first recorded.

The Cos and his characters - including Old Weird Harold and Fat Albert - were also a part of our Saturday morning childhood. It doesn't take more than a "What you want to hit me upside the face with a snowball for?" to evoke all the images of Harold, and for Albert, all you need is that first "Hey!" of "Hey! Hey! Hey!" and you can't help but have him fill all your thoughts.

He's that big.

But mostly it's due to the brilliance of Bill Cosby.

How to Identify Wannabe Environmentalists #174

Notice the "Recycle or Die" bumper sticker?

That's because the fumes from the untuned engine and exhaust system caught your attention... amazing it was still partially readable - the fine print was lost in the haze of black, foul smoke.

PSA: Blueberry Festival

The Burnside Plantation in Bethlehem, PA is having its annual Blueberry Festival this weekend...

We went last year and Rachel was disappointed that she missed it - this year she'll be here and Justin is up in MA. If we go this year it will be on the Sunday, as we'll have the cookout on Saturday!