Vapour Trails

 One more exam to go then I'm left with finishing my research report, and pure RnR. Not much remains to be done w.r.t. the research. There is one final data reduction, one final report revision, and a small simulation. With regards to the RnR... No preparation is required. I will leave you with some of the best Canadian music.

"Titillation's been replaced, by interstate brickface and coffemate, 

And by a list of phone calls, you’ll like to make, Where you could sit on the edge of your bed, And you could stare into your own shoes, And in the pools of light there, go wherever you choose, Just rig up a complication, and if it derails, You can throw away the rudder, and float away like vapour trails" - The Hip 

Riddle

What is too big to hold in one hand,
Was never alive, but is full of life,
Is for a girl and not a boy,
And has all the colours of the rainbow?

An Informative Post

Even Richard Nixon has got soul. He said,

"Because only when you've been in the deepest valley, can you know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain. Remember, always give your best. Never get discouraged. Never be petty. Always remember, others may hate you, but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself."

I moved to a new place. I found that last place too dreary, and mouse-ridden to be comfortable. Even my music suffered, with no inspiration to be found within those walls. Moving out was a delicate task, as it was against my live-in landlady's wishes. I up and disappeared with the songs of the starlings outside barely audible.

All my possessions.

Dinner with my new roomies, Flori and Rossa, and two other friends.

The new place is brighter, ideally located, and with friendly roomies (two girls in a dutch sorority called Quintus).

Recently, I went to a three-day conference in Nordwijkhout. I presented a poster on my research, and mostly just enjoyed many talks from all across astronomy. The food was great, a pleasant surprise from the normal Dutch style.

I didn't win the poster prize, but was mentioned in the award ceremony for putting my picture and contact information on my poster (a definite must for a good poster). Thanks to my editor.

Those three days have made me slightly behind, which means I'll be pulling some all night sessions, however it was worth it.

The day of the Leiden marathon, I spent playing guitar in a sunny park. I found the podium afterwards.

I don't drink much, but when I do it's always in good company.

The weather is being nice, which means I have a good view while I write my first thesis. I look forward to the summer. I'm doing what I love, while cutting a balance with life's other joys. I spend some of my intervening coffee-times thinking about this balance. It's a tricky thing for an academic, but something solvable. It's all about finding your sugar mountain, and visiting often.

The weather is being nice, which means I have a good view while I write my first thesis.

A white cat is always a good sign. I had a white cat.

The Witching Hour

What Darwin would observe these days (Should be read with Werner Herzog voice in mind):

Just after the majority of everyone reaches their climactic enjoyment of an establishment, and as people cross the threshold of being tipsy to disorderly, the dynamic changes sharply and suddenly. Any mingling after this point is pointless.

Girls, who have not made a carnal connection with someone, will huddle together in their cloister of girlfriends, playing with cell phones, and clearly are not interested in anything the party has left to offer.

Guys, who have not managed to meet someone, will either show decency and leave the girls alone, or not, and awkwardly flock to the gaggles of females and make an awkward fool of themselves.

"The dynamic" is more or less a measure of the energy of the environment. Given a good ratio of slightly too many females, good music, and a positive mood the energy of the system is easily sustainable for the entire night. In this regime, there is no witching hour. The end product is actually an exponential decay in energy instead of a sharp drop, with no one wanting to leave, until they are too tired to stay.

A Lesson

I was told I should write a book about astronomy for dumb people. I would hate to have a dumb audience for any topic, let alone for my academic passion, thus I would revise that and say I'll write a book for the uniformed, and those lacking patience to learn it the proper way, with the goal of having an intellectual audience by the end.

Some things really do need math though.

Gravity Waves In The Early Universe

This picture is circulating around the internet as proof of inflation. Grains of salt people!

I had to sit on the floor like many people.

As many people know, there was a big bang. It happened some 13.7 billion years ago, and ever since the universe has been evolving in mysterious ways. We suspect there was a period of time where space-time underwent a quickly period of expansion. More definitely, a quasi-de Sitter period where gravity waves were created. We've never had direct observations of this until now. We think we've found a signal. Today, we had a speaker give us the low down on this recent news. The room was packed. It was beautifully delivered.

Note the slide title: "The End of the World as We Know It".

Jacob's Visit

Jacob finally left The Shire, and made his way to Europe. He spent a good month travelling around having all sorts of unexpected adventures with Amanda. At the very end they made their way to Holland. They spent the days exploring on their own, and we would all meet up in the evenings eating good food, and go out. We also rented a car and did a day trip to Groningen, about 200 north of Amsterdam, to a seed event for Jacob. I hope he enjoyed his little tour.

Dinner at my place on the second night. Red wine. Provolone tortellini, with mushroom, chicken, broccoli, creamy sauce, spinach and red cabbage. Very spicy too.

Amanda helped me in the kitchen, while Mark and Jacob sat about in the living room. That night, Jacob had a column to submit to the Orillia Packet, a newspaper he puns for in Canada, so we helped him clarify his arguments after dinner, and generally made his topic of social inequality sound better.

Adding cabbage juice to the creme fraiche sauce for colour.

I totally enjoyed this night with friends, eating our faces off, and playing music. Also, managed to Skype in Samira from Toronto.

That's rooting hormone in the centre. We were doing some impromptu gardening before breakfast.

On the last morning, before Jacob and Amanda left, we had an amazing breakfast at Mark's place. Chocolate pancakes, fruit salad, melted chocolate, avocados, bacon, juice, olive leaf tea, and crushed nuts. We brought them to the station on the back of our bikes and said our goodbyes. With hugs, and full bellies, they were off on their own adventure again.