Slew

Slew

Many of you know that I create this column by looking the word over, thinking abut it, and then doing a DuckDuckGo search to see what the interwebs come up with. Usually from there I can get enough ideas to just make some crap up as I go along. It's a good system and one that I've used in different forms pretty much my entire life, which is why...well, we don't need to get into all that.

Unfortunately last night I had major insomnia and didn't get to sleep til around 2.00 - 2.30. For some people four-five hours of sleep may be all they need, but for me it's killer. That's why, even though I really really want to write something using this, I can't get beyond my fascination with the article to come up with something. I mean, many of the words mean something by themselves, but in this context, it's like reading Hebrew or something. Ironically one of the things that went through my head for a few minutes last night - and believe me, there were many - was wondering what it would be like to actually speak with a true-to-life Sheldon from The Big-Bang Theory. So you can imagine my awe and wonder when under the Talk tab of the entry I found:

The article currently has a statement which indicates that every unitary matrix (possibly only unitary 3 × 3 matrices), has an eigenvalue of 1. The eigenvalues of unitary matrices have absolute value 1, but need not be equal to 1. If the entries are real, then the eigenvalues are either all real, or include one complex number z, its conjugate 1/z, and a real eigenvalue, either 1 or -1. The determinant of the matrix is either 1 or -1. If the determinant is 1, then in this case, it must have an eigenvalue of 1, but if the determinant is -1, then it must not. Similarly in the three real case, if the matrix has eigenvalues -1, -1, -1, then it cannot have an eigenvalue of 1. In case the matrix has complex entries (which is implicitly encouraged by using the term unitary matrix instead of orthogonal matrix), then of course it can have arbitrary triples of eigenvalues chosen from the set of complex numbers of absolute value 1. For instance the diagonal matrix with entries i,-i,-1 is unitary has determinant 1 and has no eigenvalue equal to 1. JackSchmidt (talk) 20:06, 25 July 2008 (UTC)

I love The Big Bang Theory; the 'sband and I watch it and laugh and laugh. I've often wondered how true-to-life the conversations were that Sheldon had with people. I'm now thinking that if they were truly true-to-life conversations, they wouldn't be funny cuz no one would know what the hell the words were that he was using, much less the major themes and theories of the sentences uttered.

Oh, but I do understand one thing - in the first line "(Possibly only unitary 3 x 3 matrices)" would be nine!! It's "unitary 9 matrices"! Hey, maybe I can do this aerospace engineering thing after all!!

Lucifern

Lucifern

Ah, cripes, yes, I know, fireflies have butts that glow. No, I'm not gonna write about glowing butts. However, if you're disappointed in this, ride a bike for a hundred miles in a day and report back (just saying).

But(t) who knew that Lucifer was the morning star? Just for fun, the next time you're out with some grade-school kid(s) being brought up in the Judeo-Christian tradition, be sure to point out Lucifer in the morning sky. They (and their parents) will appreciate that.

Alright, normally, the only ads that are on this blog are those placed by Google. I don't make suggestions on buying this brand over that, but today I have to make an exception. A couple of months ago I was looking to buy some Luciferin Substrate, and after searching and searching, I'm proud to announce that I finally decided to go with BioThema brand, and I'm very glad I did. At first the 'sband thought I was only going for this brand because it was Swedish, and we all know, Swedes are hot.*

"Well," I refuted, "if I really wanted to be that superficial, I'd buy from the company owned by, well, you know, but since he doesn't own a company that produces Luciferin Substrate, there's that one. Besides," I continued rather eloquently, "there's no background to this brand, plus, it stays fresh for a year in the freezer and easily dissolves in equimolar NaHCO3!"

Thing is, we have like a pound of  equimolar NaHCO3 we got from a friend for Christmas last year. Now don't get the 'sband going on that one! Oy vay Maria!! What happened is that, unfortunately I have truly crappy hand writing, and what I asked for in the letter to said friend was Na2CO3! But instead of getting a pound of sodium bicarbonate, we get just plain sodium carbonate. Do we look like we're gonna make a bunch of glass?? We laughed and laughed!!

Man, good memories!! God bless us, everyone! Even Mr. Potter!

*I'll let you do your own image search on hot Swedes - I can't do all the work!

Calliope

Calliope

Per the Did You Know? section:

"Because its sound could be heard for miles around, the calliope was effective in luring patrons to river showboats, circuses, and carnivals, which is why the instrument continues its association with such attractions today."

Well, bagpipes can be heard for miles around, why aren't they used to draw us in? I know, I know, no one likes them. Well, I love bagpipes! There, I said it. I will admit, though, that any instrument with its own built-in hurdy gurdy is OK with me. The bagpipes is two! two! Two instruments in one!*

Thank goodness, tho, for Wikipedia. The other night when we were watching my newest "Blossom" DVD-of-the-month club assortment, the 'sband and I started discussing hurdy gurdies, and I referred to someone who plays one as being a "hurdy gurdyist." To which he replied

"I think they're just called hurdy gurdy players. Otherwise, it's like you're saying to them, 'of all the hurdy gurdies in the world, yer the hurdy gurdiest!'"

Needless to say, we got into a bit of a tiff over it, but, thanks to Wikipedia, we now know that they can be called either! It's always nice when a heated "discussion" ends in a tie. I think we may have gotten a bit more upset than we should have because we were both up past our bedtime. However, it just got worse because I realized I had missed the last half of my show! I mean, Six just ran off with Sonny!! Would Blossom spill the proverbial beans? No sleeping that night til I got the answer!! But don't worry, I won't spoil it for you by going into it here. I learned my lesson there when I read the last chapter of the last Harry Potter book immediately upon receiving it and started discussing it on three different fan sites. How did I know everyone else actually started at the beginning? It was so freaking long.

*Sorry - generational inside joke.

PS: I've gotten a few compliments lately on this blog. The biggest compliment you can give any blogger is by sharing it with your friends. Thanks!!

Wifty

Wifty

Yes, I'm feeling a might wifty today. We finally landed from that hot-air balloon ride!! So stupid. We go over rifle ranges and archery ranges, but for some reason when we asked people to shoot at the balloon, no one did! Come on, we're kedging around a Le Car! Obviously we're not in jest!

Well, ends up people have a really hard time shooting at anything with Judge Reinhold painted on it. Oops!

So how did we get down? you may query.

We were passing over a track and field competition, javelins flying all over the place, but of course none at the stupid balloon. Luckily, a pole vaulter was doing this incredible jump and just at his zenith the Le Car passed in front of him and he vaulted right through the front passenger window and landed on the dashboard.  His weight was just enough to bring us down for a lovely landing!

But was he all excited about being a hero? No, he was miffed because we messed up his jump. OOPS! I thought he shoulda won for the perfect front-window entry, but evidently there's no room for such things in the pole vaulting competition rule book. Seems to me that we just created a new event. Picture it, a car hanging from a crane with the front windows rolled down. The vaulter crosses the pole and goes through the passenger window and out the driver window, all without touching the sides - perfect ten! Plus if they screw up we get a good chuckle at their expense.

Ooooh, ouch, that wasn't nice, BrieDank.

Sorry. I just can't help it! I'm just feeling wifty! wifty! wifty! I like being on solid ground.

Kedge

Kedge

I'll bet if I said I was gonna talk about hot-air ballooning, you'd say

"Well, that's a silly season story!"

And you would normally be correct, but it's now Monday and we're still in the air. Yes, 94 hours and, well, I guess we're getting our money's worth.

Between the burner being stuck on high and the winds, we're somewhere over Michigan. Or perhaps Idaho.* Or Illinois. Or Canada. We did get sort of close to the ground once, and our host threw out the anchor to grab onto a tree, but instead of hooking a branch, it hooked on to the Le Car parked next to it. There was a slight fight between gravity and helium, but a gust of wind took us up a few feet causing the engine and drive shaft of the Le Car to fall out - go figure - and it was all the proverbial 'She' wrote. So if you see a balloon with Judge Reinhold painted on the side kedging around a Le Car, that's us.

Just so you're not completely worried, we've been able to snab a goose flying by every now and then to cook over the burner. I tell you, if we really did have a Christmas goose instead of turkey there would be no arguments about someone takin' too much gravy! Do you know how much gravy you could make from one of these things? I'm talking gallons!! And me with no corn starch. I knew I shouldn't have left it in the glove compartment. (Now if we only figure out where to get some fiber....you know what I mean.)


I have to go. "Someone" wants the Galaxy back so he can send another distress signal. blah blah. Compared to the old SOS flares, sending a bunch of texts is SO underwhelming.

*Hey, who you calling a 'ho'? HA! Sorry, not much oxygen up here.