Moonset over Train Station

There is an advantage about getting up early. To be exact, waking up and misreading the clock and thinking it is 6:00 AM when it is actually 5:00 AM. Are you still wondering about the advantage? The view.

This photo is of the full moon setting into the west as viewed from the northbound platform at the Hamilton Train Station. The southbound (Trenton) platform is in view and you can see the crossover that I troupe over each day on my way home. Also in view are the electrical wires that power the NJT trains.

This scene was very reminiscent of what I used to see each morning before getting a monthly parking permit for the parking garage. I had to arrive at the station by 5:50 AM each morning in order to get a daily parking space. The good thing about that is I was walking across Columbia University quad by 7:30 AM every morning. I don't even need to mention the bad part.

Truly, whenever I get up and the sun is half-way up in the eastern sky I feel I have lost a good portion of a day. Not to mention that the early bird gets the worm. Enjoy!

Cathedral at Amsterdam and 111th Street

Tales from the Train - new sci-fi author

My newest author is Charles Stross whom I discovered while browsing the sci-fi section at Powell's City of Books store in Portland, Oregon. Powell's is the largest bookstore I have ever seen (as I have not been to the Strand in NYC yet) and carries everything I could ever imagine. If you are a reader and visit Portland, Powell's is a must. Plan to spend a couple hours there.

I ran across Charles Stross' books by browsing the shelves. I am sure I was looking for anything Simmons as in Dan Simmons. Powell's is where I purchased a hardback of Olympos for $7.00 during a trip last year. This was a match for the hardback of Ilium signed by the author I purchased from eBay several years ago. With Stross, here is an author that I had no clue about who had a body of work that included five or six novels in the cyberpunk, nanotech, speculative future genre'. Ah, a gold mine!

I purchased a copy of each of the books on the shelves and acquired several more through Amazon.com. I can't understand why Stross has not gotten the kind of attention of contemporaries in speculative fiction like William Gibson and Neal Stephenson. In my opinion he is right on the mark science- and culture- wise and his characters and stories are highly entertaining. How much more fun can you have when phones rain down from the sky with offer to fulfill any wish with the simple proviso of being entertained as payment (see Singularity Sky) and the main premis that "information must be free" (not free as in no cost, free as in unfettered) ?

Entertainment aside (as in for your reading pleasure) I am in awe of the projection into the future of the effect of technology on culture and individuals. From culture shock of those on the slow end of change through how children may be affected, every page of Stross' work seethes with remarkable and profound speculation. So far I have read Singularity Sky and Iron Sunrise and am part way into Accelerando. I have a copy of Glasshouse and still need to acquire The Atrocity Archives and several others to add to my collection of his novels.

I highly recommend Charles Stross if you want to expand you mind and have lots of fun while doing it.

OK, We are getting ready to dive under the Hudson River now so I need to hold my breath. All the best... David

Trial of Sketchcasting

I am trying out a new capability called sketchcasting. Anyone who knows me knows how I love my whiteboard (or chalkboard). Here is my first attempt though with no sound. I need a headset for that.

http://sketchcast.com/view/eU8Bbq2/

Hmmm, there should be a way to embed this directly into a blog-post but I am not seeing it. It seems to truncate the imbedding link.

Any help from anyone out there?

An update, thanks to Philipp Lenssen (see comment) I was able to imbed the sketchcast directly into the blog. The part I was doing wrong was I copy-pasted the imbedding string into the Compose screen of Blogger rather than the Edit Html screen. The later allowed the entire tag.



By the way, no handwriting psycho-analysis allowed. How well can you write with a mouse?

Students Rallying Prior to Iran President Talk

This is a view of the south lawn at Columbia University where students are gathering to watch the simulcast speech of Iran's president. The Columbia quad is filling up with people many of whom are protesting Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit and speech at the World Leaders Forum being held on campus this week. Below is a photo taken during the Iranian president's speech.

Dan plays first college game

Dan's college team played the very first game in Chestnut Hill College history beginning against Lackawanna College on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2007. It was great to be there for the double-header of this new Division II baseball program particularly since it marks Dan's entry into collegiate baseball. Joining me at the game were the initial members of the Fans of Dan fan club shown here. The game was scheduled to begin at noon but didn't get started until around 1:00. This allowed the fans to do some fun activities including coloring (left) and nail painting (right).

The game was a scheduled double-header and Dan wasn't scheduled to play the first game. The squad has more than 30 players all vying for spots and Dan is competing for center field. The team did very well but got behind with a number of errors allowing the Falcons a 7-2 win. The second game proceeded with Dan playing center field and batting 7th. In the early innings Dan made several put outs on a couple of well hit balls. He came to bat in the 2nd inning with two outs but grounded out to the 3rd baseman.. For his 2nd at bat he singled down the 3rd baseline for is first college base hit. He came around to score.

His second at bat he got on base due to a throwing error by the 3rd baseman and then stole second base. He went to 3rd on a passed ball to the catcher and then scored on a base hit. The final score of the second game was 7-4 (need to verify score). All in all, the Griffin's did great for their first ever games considering they are mostly freshmen playing in Division II. Expect great things ahead from this energetic squad. Next games are Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday. Stay tuned for further blog coverage and more highlights of Dan.

One Sweet Ride

Yes, here is my dream car. At least the make and model. Oh, sure, I know what you are thinking. Full blown mid-life crisis. So typical. Hey, at least it is not in red.

Truly I have wanted this car for more than 10 years as I have switched from SUV to 4-door coupe as I have supported the family thing. But it makes sense, most of my driving really involves me shuttling myself from point a to point b alone. The family aspects can always be accomodated in car #2. No sense in giving up my dream car for practicality sake.

Anyhow, since I no longer need to fit a team equipment bag into the trunk for the baseball team I think this one has room for golf clubs and tennis rackets. And it is so unbearably sweet.

Here's to making dreams come true. We all have to aspire, right?

Tales from the Train - What is Facebook Anyway?

I am beginning this tale from the train on Wednesday evening however since we just departed Princeton Junction bound for Hamilton as the next stop I only have five minutes to begin. I'll write more on the train tomorrow morning. This tale poses the question, what is Facebook anyway and what is it good for?

I started my FB presence several days ago and have amassed an amazing two friends, count them, two. Of course I have to say that these two first FB friends are true real-world friends and I would feel uncomfortable beginning this journey of discovery and experience. I look at one site and see a particular kind of presence. Lots of friends from a home he left and photos of a particular subject I know to be a significant interest. In fairness the other friend is from a newbie like myself and so her site is pretty stark for now. But still the question, what and why?

My sons each have FB sites but I want them to experience this social environment without the feeling I am looking over their shoulder. There is some risk in that from a parental point-of-view (especially over-protective types or helicopter parents) but part of the good thing about social networking is the peer correcting aspect.

So I have these basic questions and the two ways I know to answer them is to research it and experience it. Oh, I could also solicit other people's ideas, experiences, and opinions of others. Yes, I welcome your comments about this. I admit I still write this blog with the thought that I am speaking to myself. I do want comments, exchange, discussion, and sharing from people with different points-of-view.

And so the experience begins. The research begins. Hopefully your involvement begins. Help me make sense of this puzzling thing. You can see the direct link to my Facebook site over in the left margin of this blog. Follow that if you wish.

Become my friend?

Another pair of home runs from A-Rod

An A-bomb from A-Rod. #50 to straight-away center field. Yankees lead 4-0 in top of 4th.

I took this photo from the TV when A-Rod was back in the dugout after hitting the first of two home runs last night. It's is great to see him being successful in such a great way while also helping the Yankees to the playoffs. I think he is the MVP with Jorge Posada in serious consideration as well.

I just heard while watching today's game that he got #52 and is at bat now with runners on 1st and 3rd. And he strikes out on a change-up. Do we really expect him to hit a home run every at bat? In a word, "Yes!" At least he is catching the steroid-augmented guys including Sosa, McGuire, and Bonds. Go, Alex, go!

Walk in the Wissahickon Valley Park

After taking Dan back to college after the Labor Day weekend I stopped over at a park near the college. The park is called Wissahickon Valley park and winds along the Wissahickon River (or creek) for about 5 miles until it meets the Schuykill River that flows through Philadelphia before joining the Delaware River.

One of the interesting sites within the first part of the park is this covered bridge which was the only one left from the 1800's. I read the plaque about the bridge and it indicated the covering protected the wooden bridge timbers providing for longer life of the bridge. I had always thought the reason was to protect the wagon shipments from rainfall in the passage from fields to market. I'll have to verify this conflicting information.

This view is the end view from below. The walk through the covered bridge was as I had seen in movies or on TV with the interior being very gloomy. There was also quite an interesting build-up of stonework approaching the bridge and keeping the river within the banks at this juncture. Maybe this was also to protect the investment in the bridge from weathering elements including high water and floods. The plaque indicated that this particular bridge joined industries on both sides of the river when Chestnut Hill was a thriving community in the eighteen hundreds.

While I was investigating I saw this fisherman fishing for trout at the spillway of a small waterfall that was directly upstream of the bridge. While I was there he pulled 3 small trout from the river fishing catch and release style. He indicated he was fishing with minnows although I had always heard that trout liked kernel corn the best. While I was there he must have run out of minnows because he broke open a can of corn on the big rock he is standing on. Another interesting thing he told me is that he has best luck fishing in the spillway of the waterfall due to the better oxygenation of the water. He thought trout like that over the warmer water that I am sure holds less oxygen. I think it may be a better place to ambush food coming down the waterfall and spilling into a constricted area. Maybe both aspects come into play to make this a good fishing spot.

This final view is from the downstream vantage looking back up at the covered bridge with the waterfall barely seen beyond as the patch of white foam directly beneath the bridge. My little cell phone camera doesn't do justice to the bright blue sky, the green vegetation, and the brightly red paint of the bridge. In all, the short visit to the Wissahickon River Park was lots of fun and there is much more to explore since I only covered about .5 linear miles of the 6 miles of river.