Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Merry Christmas :)

I have a post about "The rising star of science" over at Starts with a Bang. It collects some of my thoughts on science and religion, fear and wonder. I will not repost this here next month, so if you're interested check it out over there. According to medium it's a 6 minutes read. You can get a 3 minutes summary in my recent video:


We wish you all happy holidays :)


From left to right: Inga the elephant, Lara the noisy one, me, Gloria the nosy one, and Bo the moose. Stefan is fine and says hi too, he isn't in the photo because his wife couldn't find the setting for the self-timer.

15 comments:

  1. Merry Christmas Bee to you & your people & critters

    Cool person of the year in my book

    Michael

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  2. BTW - the video... Wow! Where do you get the time? You are the only "electro" [only word that comes to me] I can listen to because I approve of your message. I know you like feedback so...

    ** Don't think green screen adds - why bother?
    ** Mix screwed - voice needs to come forward
    ** High frequencies & reverb spoil it
    ** Needs human rhythm/percussion section John Entwistle or Jack Bruce on bass with a mad drummer behind & get yourself on tiptoe to move around the stage :)
    Can you find some human instrumentalists?

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  3. "Why spend the Sunday in church when you can spend it in the lab" Collapse the indeterminacy! Sabbath is in the lab - every day.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX2y51ixsu8
    Everything sounds better in Latin.

    God is that which you must love and deeply fear, a model sado-masochistic relationship. God demands full payment up front in trade for afterlife promises. The Devil delivers up front in trade for afterlife billing. I signed on with Satan - all the pressure is off, the math works, patents are granted. (Hebrew, Roman, Muslim calendars - tests of faith?)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM_I6rtIgn0
    Everything else in life is just waiting.

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  4. Merry Christmas to you and your family. I really enjoy your blog keep up the wonderful work!

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  5. Sorry.I posted my comment on the previous blog spot.I do not know how to delete that. Here it is again!
    Happy Holidays! I read your interesting blog quite often. Your views on science and religion may be clouded by your familiarity with Christianity (in general Abrahamic religions) only. The concept of God in eastern religions (Hinduism and Buddhism) is completely different. In these religions, God is not like a king emperor sitting outside the universe and dictating how the universe should run, but is present in every particle and is pretty much synonymous with laws of nature. It is impossible to explain this religion in a short comment. In case you have time and interest, you might look at my blog :
    http://www.motls.blogspot.com/2014/04/hinduism-for-physicists.html. I know, unfortunately, you two do not get along for whatever reasons. Also this may look like a shameless personal advertisement! But I do want scientists to make comments on my views on science and religion. I do not see any other way.
    By the way, I vaguely remember to have given this reference on another physics blog. If I have given this link on your blog before, then I apologize. It will be fine to delete this comment in that case.

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  6. Michael,

    Thanks for the kind words :) Yes, advice is greatly appreciated. I'm doing my best to get my voice into the back - the last thing I want is for it to be in front! Why would I want that, given that I can't sing, have an awful German accent and a basically permanently clogged nose. Let me not forget that since I have to do my vocal recordings basically at my desk, I have a very thick noise bottom that you'd hear very clearly coming on and off if the vocals were any more prominent. Honestly, the vocal processing is so cumbersome, I'd rather not sing at all, but hard to get any message across with that :p

    Which high frequencies are you referring to - the hats? Actually I thought the whole thing is too heavy in the low frequencies, but then it kind of seemed to be fitting. I didn't put an eq on the master track. Thing is that my speakers are so mediocre I basically don't hear any difference anyway.

    No, I don't know any human interested in joining my musical attempts, sorry. I have an electronic drumset, but I had to box it up and move it into the basement because of the kids. It would be useless anyway, because I'm not much of a drummer. I took some lessons at some point, but clearly lack the patience to become any good at it. For what I am concerned copy-and-pasting a midi loop is just what I need ;) I'm pretty sure if I'd spend some hundred dollars on a plugin I could randomize this suitably, but there's only so much money I can spend on a hobby. Best,

    B.

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  7. kashyap,

    I was referring specifically to Christianity in my post, you can extrapolate from that to most monotheistic Eastern and Western religions. Yes, I have a great sympathy for all kinds of god-nature-spirits and so on, but it's kind of besides the point because most of the clash we see between science and religion stems from the monotheistic ones, and that's what I've been addressing. Best,

    B.

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  8. Michael:

    Re green screen, it's a blue screen (mistake - have to get some green). Nobody really wants to see me standing in front of a wall for 3 minutes trying to move my lips in synch with the audio. I mean, look, the video is just some decoration that I need to upload the thing to Youtube. I have to fill it with something. Moving 'fantasy flames' are in my book still better than a white wall. Best,

    B.

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  9. Hi Bee! Thanks for your reply.My main point in the blog is that Hinduism (and Buddhism also) is the most misunderstood religion in west.Extrapolations based on calling it monotheistic or polytheistic (or for that matter any word in western languages!) do not correctly describe it. I have tried to explain why eastern religions do not have any conflicts whatsoever with science. If you do not have time or interest to look into it, it is OK! Happy holidays or Merry Christmas !

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  11. "an awful German accent" You speak UK-inflected English with a light Germanic decoration. That works. Compare with the linguistically dreadful US northeast, Chicago; Inner Cities (slums); California's San Fernando Valley.

    "a basically permanently clogged nose" You might consider oxymetazoline nasal spray for moments of need. Give it a little spray to open things. Wait 10 minutes. Give it another spray. That holds for 12 hours. It is exceptionally addictive (nasal inflammation rebound). Three days in a row can do it. Don't do that. NOT for children - severe central nervous system depression.

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  12. Merry Christmas! As you already know, Children really make Christmas :-)

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  13. Uncle AI,

    Language in practice is more flexible than its grammar and accent rules. Some inner city and southern coastal dialects still speak Elizabethan English.

    Actors manage somehow. Midwest is now the American standard.

    Folk wisdom is sufficient for the day cherished outside of time. A poet rarely sounds like we imagine them. German is not to be compared to some sort of Tolkien Orch. And French accent can add sexy an artificial voice program cannot now achieve.

    The psi Trident in this video if QM begs for deeper interpretations for physics. And faiths.

    But you have a point. I mean, I saved one of two loose incisors by net alternative folk wisdom as I understood what a living thing a tooth is in detail. Changes my song and word sounds thus clarity for hearers.

    All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth :-)

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  14. Merry Christmas to all (a bit belated) and Happy New Year! As usual for Christmas my clone (twin brother) bought several books on Physics for me, positively wonderful gift.

    L. Edgar Otto:

    I broke my two front incisors in 1983 falling over the handlebars of my bicycle. The dentist who repaired them said the repair would last 3 to 5 years, and not to open soda bottles with my incisors. But it's now 31 years and the repair amazingly is still holding.

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  15. A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to your Family...the girls have grown over these years....good work on your creativity skills.

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