Random Stuff
esiegel | April 5, 2015“Every act of creation is first an act of destruction.” -Pablo Picasso
When you think about representing something physical in an artistic medium, you usually think of starting with a blank canvas and adding to it. Such is the case with musicians, who start with silence and add to it, like Tony Trischka as he plays his remarkable composition,
French Creek / Burning Springs.
But every once in a while, you discover a new form of art, where subtraction -- or even destruction -- is the medium of communication.
Image credit: Jihyun Park, working on a reverse-pointillist masterpiece, via http://…
esiegel | March 29, 2015“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.” -Oscar Wilde
What do you like? No, I really mean it: don't think about the things that you're supposed to like, or the things you'll admit to the world that you like, but really ask yourself the question. Do you, as Golden Smog would sing,
Think About Yourself?
Because if you do, and you like something unconventional, there's a place for you.
Image credit: Weezle, of me giving a talk on the Universe in full Rainbow Dash costume.
I don't mean college; I don't mean…
esiegel | March 15, 2015“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.” -Isaac Asimov
Yet it's that intersection -- of science with our day-to-day lives, our imaginations, our hopes, fears and dreams -- that's going to be the thing that drives us towards a scientifically literate future. Have a listen to Leonard Cohen’s dark, apocalyptic vision of it,
The Future.
But when I think of the future -- when I think of it optimistically -- I think of one where we trust what science tells us to the best of our confidence, and use technology, once we grapple with…
esiegel | March 8, 2015“Her will tells nearly all. She left an estate worth $314.91, mostly in Liberty Bonds, with a few items such as a desk valued at $5. She never married and had few living relatives. She also left behind a legacy of a great astronomical discovery.” -Jeremy Bernstein, on Henrietta Leavitt
Today is International Women's Day, and to celebrate, I not only have a killer cover by Cat Power that gives an amazing amount of actual emotion to Oasis' bland-pop hit from the 1990s,
Wonderwall,
but a story that left perhaps the greatest legacy in all of astronomy. I can think of no better way to celebrate…
esiegel | March 1, 2015“An ancestor of mine maintained that when you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” -Mr. Spock, Star Trek
Sometimes the truth is hard to handle on its own, so we resort to fiction to make it a little easier to swallow. Have a listen to Summer Fiction’s song,
By The Sea,
while you consider one of the greatest "fictions" we've ever told ourselves to do exactly that: Star Trek.
Image credit: Star Trek fan art, via https://nasimali.wordpress.com/2014/12/17/film-star-trek-should-not-fol….
In many important ways, Star Trek was unlike any of the…
esiegel | February 22, 2015“The only frozen heart around here is yours.” -Anna, to Hans, from Frozen
When something's difficult, it's easy to lose sight of what's beautiful. Have a listen to Eilen Jewell's haunting and memorable song,
Fourth Degree.
Next, before you curse the bitter cold yet again, particularly those of you suffering from far below average temperatures, consider the following beautiful sights.
Image credit: Cheryl Johnson, via https://www.facebook.com/cheryljohnsonnh/media_set?set=a.10203684200845….
These frozen baubles aren't leftover Christmas decorations that were left out in the snow, but are…
esiegel | February 15, 2015“I’ve done the calculation and your chances of winning the lottery are identical whether you play or not.” -Fran Lebowitz
It's a thought that's occurred to almost everyone at some point or another: what each of us would do if we happened to hit the lottery Jackpot. Have a listen to Camper Van Beethoven sing about it in the band's interesting song,
When I Win The Lottery,
while you consider the following.
Image credit: me. The (very small) differences in these odds and the Powerball official odds are due to rounding.
This past week, the Powerball Jackpot crested past $500 million, one of…
esiegel | February 7, 2015“When I look at the moon I do not see a hostile, empty world. I see the radiant body where man has taken his first steps into a frontier that will never end.” -David Scott, Commander, Apollo 15
The Moon is perhaps the oldest sight known to humans and our animal ancestors here on Earth, with its features mostly unchanged for billions of years. Have a listen to Camera Obscura sing their soothing song,
Lunar Sea,
while you consider that for nearly all of human history, we were only able to see just barely over 50% of the Moon.
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons user Tomruen, viahttp://en.…
esiegel | February 1, 2015“If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge?” -William Shakespeare
They say that revenge is a dish best served cold, and yet, if your packing it in your lunchbox, how else would you do it? Have a listen to John Prine's (bitter)sweet song,
Sweet Revenge,
as you consider the surprise that must be in store when you open your lunch, expecting a delicious treat, and find something like this.
Image credit: Juju Kurihara of Iromegane, via http://www.iromegane.com/entertainment/foods/the-japanese-wives-…
esiegel | January 18, 2015“There is a concept that is the corrupter and destroyer of all others. I speak not of Evil, whose limited empire is that of ethics; I speak of the infinite.” -Jorge Luis Borges
Have you ever been so mad at someone that you needed revenge? That you needed to take something delightful and use it for the most nefarious of purposes? Even something sparkly and sweet, as Tower of Power would sing you,
Sparkling In The Sand,
can turn into vengeance in the right (or wrong) hands.
Image credit: via http://shipyourenemiesglitter.com/.
Well, that's exactly what young Australian entrepreneur Mathew…
esiegel | January 11, 2015“He who would search for pearls must dive below.” -John Dryden
Sometimes falling can be a painful thing, as Ween might sing you in their ominous composition,
Falling Out,
but sometimes it can be absolutely wonderful, like when the Hubble space telescope allows you to "fall in" to the closest large galaxy to us: Andromeda.
Image credit: NASA, ESA, J. Dalcanton, B.F. Williams, and L.C. Johnson (University of Washington), the PHAT team, and R. Gendler.
Thanks to the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT), we can now give you high-resolution glimpses into our nearest neighboring galaxy…
esiegel | January 4, 2015“Art is the only serious thing in the world. And the artist is the only person who is never serious.” -Oscar Wilde
While the AAS meeting is about to start, I couldn't resist sharing a song and a wonderful project with you this weekend. Have a listen to a song that talks about what it means to care by Walter the Orange Ocean,
Someone Who Loves You,
while you look over what happens when a teacher (in Thailand) makes a simple promise to their students: "If you draw something, I will add to it."
Image credit: Squeezymo, via tumblr and imgur.
It also features the best appearance of a little…
esiegel | December 28, 2014“I believe that we are here for each other, not against each other. Everything comes from an understanding that you are a gift in my life — whoever you are, whatever our differences.” -John Denver
So why not lead by example? If you think there's too much carbon in the atmosphere (because there is), if you think the Earth is undergoing global warming and climate change because of it (which the science says it is), and you think that you want to live in a time and place where the natural world is healthy, as John Denver would sing you in his classic song,
Take Me Home Country Roads,
maybe…
esiegel | December 23, 2014We don't normally think about it in our day-to-day work, but as scientists, our equations, our models, our observations, our experiments and our instruments are more than just our tools for approaching our work. In a very real way, they're our connection to the Universe itself.
Image source: http://www.cramerinc.com/environments/laboratory/.
Yet some people miss out on that connection, never finding the wonder, joy and knowledge that comes along with science. Sabine Hossenfelder has an interesting take on this -- and a personal story, too -- that's worth reading. Here's a snippet:
We don’t…
esiegel | December 21, 2014“Astronomers are greatly disappointed when, having traveled halfway around the world to see an eclipse, clouds prevent a sight of it; and yet a sense of relief accompanies the disappointment.” -Simon Newcomb
For most of us, news of a total solar eclipse -- even though they happen (on average) once every three years -- seems distant and remote, and far from the possibility of us enjoying it. Have a listen to the Cat Stevens classic,
Moonshadow,
while you consider how rare it is to have the Moon's shadow fall on us.For those of us in the United States, we haven't seen a total solar eclipse…
esiegel | December 14, 2014“If there are things you don’t like in the world you grew up in, make your own life different.” -Dave Thomas
That's great advice, and is the same advice that the iconic Grandmaster Flash not only pushed in his legendary song,
The Message,
but also lived. The music style he helped developed had a tremendous impact on the world, too. And not only the world of music, but -- for a brief golden age in the late 1980s -- the world of employee training videos.
Image credit: screenshot from Wendy’s Inc., 1989.
Because a standard, boring fast-food training video might not cut it in the fast-paced…
esiegel | December 7, 2014“The probability of success is difficult to estimate; but if we never search the chance of success is zero.” -Giuseppe Cocconi and Philip Morrison
Although, for many various reasons, most of us may find the prospect of journeying into deep space beyond our physical grasp, that doesn't means we can't journey there in our imaginations. Have a listen to Catie Curtis sing her fanciful, escapist song,
Wallpaper Dreams,
while you consider some of the greatest images ever taken of deep space.
Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ.Potsdam/L.Oskinova et al; Optical: NASA/STScI; Infrared: NASA/JPL-…
esiegel | November 30, 2014“Devote yourself, but do not lose who you are!” -Marvel vs. Capcom
With Thanksgiving behind us, it's officially the holiday season here in the USA (and in many other places across the world), and so it's time to kick that off with a great holiday song by Calexico,
Gift X-change,
and to check out the fusion of two great holiday traditions: video games and seasonal sweaters!
Image credit: fuZZdandy of eBay, via http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/231129773827?lpid=82.
There are plenty of products out there that look good on the surface, but that turn out to be mere screen prints on sweatshirts.…
esiegel | November 22, 2014“We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person.” -W. Somerset Maugham
There are so many things out there in this world to marvel at, that it's important to remember to appreciate all that's out there -- both terrestrially and well beyond -- that are far older and grander than anything we'll ever experience. Have a listen to M. Ward's mystifying song,
One Hundred Million Years,
while I share with you a wonderful effort to bring the Universe to us all.
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science…
esiegel | November 16, 2014“I didn’t know any successful actors in Kenya, so I felt like I could get away with going to college to study film more easily than I could with saying, ‘I want to be an actor.’ That’s what I did.” -Lupita Nyong’o
There's nothing that gets me excited quite like... completely fabricated, unnecessary bickering on the internet between two countries. I don't know why that is, but there's something both charming and addicting about the classic internet video where Kenya shoots jabs at Norway for no reason at all.
But did you know there's been a Norwegian response to it? In particular, a response…