tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699282024-02-28T06:19:05.277-08:00Deadly MantisVery occasional musings of several not-so-recent Harvard grads as they embark on their chosen careers and adjust to no longer being single.Alechttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05252711023736721613noreply@blogger.comBlogger3243125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469928.post-44962211775879878962010-05-30T19:21:00.000-07:002010-05-30T19:26:06.604-07:00Hm. It seems the U.S. government did fly flying saucers out of Area 51 after all. If <a href="http://www.latimesmagazine.com/2009/04/road-to-area-51.html">this story </a>is to be believed (and I think it is), Area 51 was the home base for a top-secret spy plane named OXCART which had a large disc-like fuselage to carry fuel. Information about the program is just now becoming public because the records are being declassified as they become fifty years old. <br /><br />Not quite as cool as reverse-engineered alien technology, but pretty cool nonetheless.Nathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031246478805513619noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469928.post-3949921292349012682010-03-24T11:00:00.000-07:002010-03-24T11:02:32.599-07:00My <a href="http://www.genealogy.ams.org/id.php?id=7652">mathematical grandfather</a> just won the <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gUj0EjE6PPB2zUCVcQC0n5LrOO4w">Abel Prize</a>. (I.e. the "Nobel Prize of math", with apologies to <i>Good Will Hunting</i>.)Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12141890473982673964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469928.post-55101225618236923802010-03-05T16:47:00.000-08:002010-03-05T17:07:34.398-08:00So there was just an <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/04/opinion/04elsesser.html?ref=opinion">article in the times</a> arguing that the best actor oscars shouldn't be gender-segregated. I'm pretty sympathetic to the argument. The obvious problem with making this change is that you can't really just cut the number of acting awards in half, and "second best actor" somehow wouldn't quite work. Anyway what <span style="font-style:italic;">really</span> interests me here is who would have actually won a unified award. Here's my guesses (these are for would have won, not should have won). I'm starting in 1996 cause that's where my movie knowledge starts. Which do you disagree with? I think the toughest guesses are 99, 03, 04, 06<br /><br />1996: Frances McDormand (Fargo) over Geoffrey Rush (Shine)<br />1997: Jack Nicholson (As Good as It Gets) over Helen Hunt (As Good as It Gets)<br />1998: Roberto Benigni (Life Is Beautiful) over Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare in Love)<br />1999: Kevin Spacey (American Beauty) over Hilary Swank (Boys Don't Cry)<br />2000: Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich) over Russell Crowe (Gladiator)<br />2001: Denzel Washington (Training Day) over Halle Berry (Monster's Ball) [though maybe Crowe if he didn't win in 2000]<br />2002: Adrien Brody (The Pianist) over Nicole Kidman (The Hours)<br />2003: Charlize Theron (Monster) over Sean Penn (Mystic River)<br />2004: Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby) over Jamie Foxx (Ray) [on the "she was robbed for Boys Don't Cry" theory]<br />2005: Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) over Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line)<br />2006: Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland) over Helen Mirren (The Queen)<br />2007: Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood) over Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose)<br />2008: Sean Penn (Milk) over Kate Winslet (The Reader)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469928.post-14890722237054253832010-02-24T16:22:00.000-08:002010-02-24T16:54:44.935-08:00Poll numbers show a staggering majority of voters oppose the <em>Citizens United</em> decision overturning limits on political expenditures by corporations. The numbers are high enough that a constitutional amendment overturning the decision isn't out of the question.<br /><br />If there is a constitutional amendment, the next question is what the amendment should say. My home state senator, Tom Udall, has introduced what I would call a narrow amendment, which would enable Congress and the states to regulate corporate political expenditures. <br /><br />A more intriguing option would be to draft a broader amendment limiting the freedom of speech to natural persons (i.e., not corporations or other artificial entities). This would have all sorts of effects outside of the campaign finance world. To name a few, this would greatly aid in the regulation of pornography and advertising. <br /><br />About the only downside that I can think of (although I am sure there are others) is that a poorly worded amendment might enable interference with the press or with churches. Because the First Amendment separately protects the freedom of speech, the free exercise of religion, and the freedom of the press, however, I don't think it would be impossible to maintain those protections that I think most people would want to keep in the First Amendment.Nathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031246478805513619noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469928.post-74612239376639554122009-12-21T10:26:00.000-08:002009-12-21T10:51:20.145-08:00I was reading the other day about how, at the temple of Delphi, when the holy fire was extinguished, it could not be re-lit by earthly fire. Instead, according to Plutarch, it would be lit using "concave mirrors, of a figure formed by the revolution of an isosceles rectangular triangle." A few days later, inspired by the Greeks (and in imminent danger of falling asleep during a meeting at work), and wondering what was meant by the term "isosceles rectangular triangle," I decided to try to derive the formula for the focus of a parabola. I gave up after muddling into trigonometric identities long since forgotten, and didn't bother looking up the answer. (I did, though, manage to stay awake through the rest of the meeting.) Today, I saw <a href="http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/the-advanced-placement-juggernaut/">this picture </a>in a NYT story about how students are taking too many AP tests. Hopefully those students will be qualified to be Delphic priests!Nathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031246478805513619noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469928.post-45991989241511483232009-11-03T16:36:00.000-08:002009-11-03T16:57:59.669-08:00There's a shelf at my mother's house that is devoted to storing, apparently for eternity, the fruit preserves that people give her as gifts. This summer I decided to help her clean off the shelf. We threw out the jars that looked obviously toxic, but (I'm still not sure why) I decided to salvage the unopened jars and try them out. <br /><br />So, for the past month or so, I've been testing these aged fruit preserves. I've thrown out some, but a few have been ok. I ate one jar of a brownish fruit that could have been either figs or some unknown berries, and another jar that was either apricots or peaches. Now I'm eating a jar that's simply labeled, "Crabapples '92." <br /><br />Apart from an admonition about botulism, AM's comment was, "why would anyone want to preserve crabapples?"Nathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031246478805513619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469928.post-6734992269105307332009-10-02T02:05:00.000-07:002009-10-02T02:15:56.451-07:00Unless the Twins manage to pull off a miracle in their last three games, this year's MLB postseason lineup is going to be very disappointing. When the Twins aren't in the playoffs, I root for the team that "deserves it most" as measured by when they last won a championship. By that measure, almost none of the teams in this year's postseason deserve it. Seven of the eight teams have appeared in the World Series since 2002 (Yankees '03, Red Sox '04 & '07, Tigers '06, Angels '02, Phillies '08, Cardinals '06, Rockies '07), and five of those teams have won this decade (the Rockies and Tigers lost; the Yankees lost in '03 but won in '00). The remaining team is the Dodgers, who technically deserve it the most, but as an adopted San Franciscan I have a hard time rooting for them, especially after how their fans behaved at the game I went to in August. <br /><br />So I guess you can call me pretty apathetic about this postseason. This is probably just as well, since all of the games will be on at 2.30 in the morning where I am. Of course, last time I spent a fall in Europe (2002) it was one of the most memorable postseasons in recent history. So I guess my position is: I'll get up in the middle of the night to watch any Game 7, and World Series Game 6 if it was 2-2 after four.<br /><br />Unless the Twins are in it.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12141890473982673964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469928.post-61388686710723402272009-09-18T14:40:00.000-07:002009-09-18T15:13:45.361-07:00I arrived in Virginia yesterday, and I'm staying with Almea while I continue to look for an apartment. For those of you who don't know about it, the website <a href="http://spotcrime.com/">spotcrime.com</a> is a lot of fun. It gives you a searchable map pinpointing all the reported crimes in an area during a specified time period.<br /><br />Something interesting I saw on the website: Arlington, a city with a population of about 200,000, had about 200 reported crimes in the past two months. Alexandria, with a population of 150,000, had about 200 reported crimes in the past two weeks. Washington, a city with a population of about 600,000, had about 200 reported crimes in the past <em>four days.</em><br /><br />According to the spotcrime map, most of the Washington crimes are not in the poorest neighborhoods, but are instead property crimes in some of the trendiest parts of the city. Perhaps criminals have easy pickings among the young and well-to-do. (I am reminded of the Harvard students who were repeatedly burgled when they left their dorm rooms unlocked.) I'm not sure, however, why the trendier parts of Arlington have so many fewer crimes; maybe would-be criminals are deterred by northern Virginia's famous transportation problems.Nathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031246478805513619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469928.post-22476681634964557312009-09-08T20:33:00.000-07:002009-09-08T20:35:48.190-07:00My apartment in Arlington just fell through, so I'm back on craigslist looking for a place to live. My favorite listing so far: "$650 Basement near Ballston with 20 Some restaurant workers." After I clicked on it in sheer fascination, I realized they were refering to their ages, not their numbers.Nathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031246478805513619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469928.post-75536410798228201252009-08-19T20:14:00.000-07:002009-08-19T20:20:57.196-07:00In the past month, three people independently recommended that I read <em>Born to Run</em> by Christopher McDougall. Two bought me the book. The other said, "this book will make you want to tear off all your clothes and go running into the wilderness." <br /><br />I just finished the book, and I can only nod in agreement. And I bet it has an even more profound effect on non-runners.Nathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031246478805513619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469928.post-56319866825508887992009-08-14T23:46:00.000-07:002009-08-14T23:49:37.064-07:00We've been back in the U.S. for a week now and are halfway through our Tour de California. Some things we've noticed:<br /><ul><br /><li> air conditioning<br /> <li> weird small green money<br /> <li> fat people <br /><li>sandwiches with more stuff than bread<br /><li>toilets with lots of water<br /><li> diversity<br /><li> SO MUCH DRIVING!!!<br /></ul>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12141890473982673964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469928.post-40130255955099256242009-08-11T07:38:00.000-07:002009-08-11T07:44:31.961-07:00What kind of important issues will Justice Sotomayor be handling in her first term on the Supreme Court? How about crush fetishes? In United States v. Stevens, the justices will be considering the constitutionality of a statute banning the depiction of animal cruelty, which was apparently intended to crack down on crush fetish porn but whose language is sufficiently broad to prohibit depictions of all kinds of animal cruelty, whether or not high heels are involved. <a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/scotuswiki-preview-ot09-u-s-v-stevens/">Here's an interesting (if slightly technical) preview. </a>Nathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031246478805513619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469928.post-43034554063810217672009-08-08T13:09:00.000-07:002009-08-08T13:27:00.522-07:00It's already been a year since <a href="http://deadlymantis.blogspot.com/2008/07/for-some-reason-this-website-featuring.html">this post about Norman Schwarzkopf's "Be Bear Aware" campaign</a>. I'm planning on going back into the mountains, and for the first time I'm going to be camping in grizzly country - the Wind River Range. <br /><br />Following General Schwarzkopf's advice, I'm trying to be Bear Aware, and for the first time I've bought bear spray. Annoying thing about the bear spray: it has an expiration date of June 2010. That means even if I don't use it I have to buy some more next summer. I was hoping I could keep this canister forever, kind of like a fire extinguisher. What? Those have expiration dates too? Oh man.Nathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031246478805513619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469928.post-82930788434836049882009-08-06T14:16:00.001-07:002009-08-06T14:17:00.394-07:00Wailin was <a href="http://www.wttw.com/main.taf?p=42,8,8&vid=080509e">interviewed</a> about social media on last night's episode of <i>Chicago Tonight</i>, the local news program on Chicago's PBS station. I thought she did a nice job!Alechttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05252711023736721613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469928.post-24303058624433367302009-06-29T08:15:00.000-07:002009-06-29T08:17:05.196-07:00The <a href="http://www.analogsf.com/0909/issue_09.shtml">latest issue</a> of <i>Analog Science Fiction and Fact</i>, featuring my novelette "The Last Resort," is in bookstores now! You can probably find it at any larger Barnes & Noble or Borders. It's a nice way to bookend my time in New York. (I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon for Chicago...)Alechttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05252711023736721613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469928.post-19542710211139880352009-06-26T18:50:00.000-07:002009-06-26T18:53:26.601-07:00Three important updates:<br /><ul><br /><li><a href="http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=528513">Domna retired</a></li><br /><li>Malia has joined a <a href="http://www.mathmidway.org/index.php">traveling math circus</a></li><br /><li>Here in Harlem they sure do love their Michael Jackson. We heard 5 different cars playing his music just on the walk back from the subway.</li><br /></ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469928.post-34793130627936315182009-06-24T17:11:00.000-07:002009-06-24T17:23:56.549-07:00One of our local papers has this front page article today: <a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705312523/Bigfoot-a-search-in-Utah.html">Bigfoot: a search in Utah</a>. The article is a real gem. It tells about a group of bigfoot seekers who are gathering in Utah this weekend to look for the big guy. There are too many wonderful touches to recount here, but my favorite is this: "Reported Bigfoot sightings vary, but according to folks like Curtis, 80 percent happen at night." <br /><br />Of course, it may say something about the state of the media that this is on the front page. Although the Wall Street Journal usually has a funny story on its front page, this article, from what I can tell, isn't trying to be funny.Nathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031246478805513619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469928.post-22377197448042051092009-05-09T09:40:00.000-07:002009-05-09T09:52:34.323-07:00Are you looking for a unique and special pack animal? If so, perhaps you should consider <a href="http://www.scinternet.net/~smillers/Pack%20Goat%20Manual.htm">raising and training pack goats</a>. This website has all the information you will ever need on the subject, including the pros and cons of removing the goat's horns, how to transport your goat, and first aid for goats. All very interesting stuff. This goes to show people will try to train anything these days.Nathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031246478805513619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469928.post-68332615565823884572009-04-21T19:59:00.001-07:002009-04-21T20:00:43.017-07:00By the way, I know that I haven't been blogging a lot recently, but I've switched a lot of the action over to <a href="http://www.twitter.com">Twitter</a>. If you're still interested in what I have to say about things (with the added advantage of it being 140 characters or less), you can find me there.Alechttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05252711023736721613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469928.post-91540414087800091242009-04-16T08:05:00.000-07:002009-04-16T08:06:21.465-07:00Now that they've finally paid me, I can officially announce that my latest novelette is being published in <a href="http://www.analogsf.com">this magazine</a> later this year. I'll let you know when it comes out!Alechttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05252711023736721613noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469928.post-1875067305018795992009-04-11T08:50:00.000-07:002009-04-11T10:26:41.975-07:00Apart from explaining the bribes and backroom deals that helped keep Robert Moses in power in New York for over three decades, <em>The Power Broker</em> has a lot to say about an issue that is currently receiving a lot of attention: the role of newspapers in modern American democracy.<br /><br />The book does not cast newspapers in a flattering light. By courting publishers and bribing reporters, Moses was able to grossly manipulate media coverage of his construction empire. The <em>Times</em> comes off looking worst of all (the only paper that stood up to Moses at the height of his power was, ironically, the <em>Post</em>.) Eventually the newspapers turned on him and exposed scandals that led to his downfall, but they were literally thirty years late. <br /><br />The message is this: if newspapers are democracy's only hope, we're in a lot of trouble. Unfortunately, they probably <em>are</em> the best way to keep public officials accountable. Investigative journalism is expensive and difficult, which categorically rules out television news as a replacement. The blogosphere might break a few stories, but I doubt bloggers can match the investigative skills (not to mention journalistic ethics) of veteran reporters. If newspapers survive in more than a few cities, I will be happy. I'll also be hoping that media critics on the internet will be able to call out newspapers when they're not doing their job so that Moses's tactics don't work in the future.Nathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031246478805513619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469928.post-56851992700318954282009-04-04T12:36:00.000-07:002009-04-04T12:41:06.063-07:00<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SD2cI1i2vqQ&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SD2cI1i2vqQ&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />The Bobcat Bite is a couple of miles from where I grew up, and I just learned it was named best burger in the US by Bon Appetit magazine. (Apparently this happened a couple of years ago, but I'm slow to learn these things because I don't watch the Food Network.) Anyhow, this is a cute little documentary about why their burgers taste better than everywhere else.Nathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031246478805513619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469928.post-12644182940389291042009-04-04T08:24:00.000-07:002009-04-04T08:40:38.590-07:00In <em>The Power Broker</em>, Robert Caro describes the rise of "Impy," the New York City Council President who became mayor in 1950 when William O'Dwyer resigned to become Ambassador to Mexico:<br /><br /><blockquote>The nomination of this totally unknown minor Tammany ward heeler to the city's second-highest elective office, the position of succession to the mayoralty, had "staggered . . . even the most imaginative among political reporters." And so had the explanation of how he had obtained the nomination. At a last-minute reshuffling of the 1945 Democratic ticket, the leaders finally agreed on Lazarus Joseph for Comptroller, and then realized that since O'Dwyer was Irish and from Brooklyn, while Joseph was Jewish and from the Bronx, the slate could have ethnic and geographic balance only if its third member was an Italian from Manhattan -- and were unable to think of a single Manhattan Italian official they could trust. After hours of impasse, one leader reasoned that since legal secretaryships to State Supreme Court justices carried a respectable salary for which little or no work was required, they would have been given only to the "safest" of Democratic workers. Pulling out a little "Green Book," the official directory of city employees, he turned to the list of legal secretaries, ran his finger down it looking for a name that even the dumbest voter would be able to tell was Italian -- and came to Vincent R. Impellitteri. . . . <br /><br />. . .this explanation seemed almost unbelievable -- until one met Impellitteri.<br /></blockquote><br /><br />I'm not sure whether to feel insulted or excited about my future job prospects.Nathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031246478805513619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469928.post-52439281148059973012009-04-02T08:10:00.001-07:002009-04-02T08:17:19.469-07:00Sources tell me the Guardian fell for yesterday's <a href="http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/1010/42/375822.htm">Moscow Times</a> story about Russian PM Dimitri Medvedev's limousine for the G 20 conference, coined (among other things) "the hippopotamus." Apparently the vehicle has more armor, more weapons, and more rear window curtains than President Obama's limousine, and contains a desk with six telephones and a shower. The vehicle is capable of withstanding a small nuclear attack "if the wind if blowing in the right direction."Nathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031246478805513619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469928.post-19636636990225408272009-04-01T17:10:00.000-07:002009-04-01T17:13:39.698-07:00What I learned this April Fool's Day: fake plastic insects do not need to look perfectly realistic in order to scare people. They just have to be unexpected.Nathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16031246478805513619noreply@blogger.com0