tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53570442012-01-30T21:05:44.478-05:00Ramblings on cosmology, cognitive science, science fiction, music, the current zeitgeist -- and wild birds!Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.comBlogger2441100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-73964739336953698562012-01-15T12:38:00.001-05:002012-01-15T12:38:49.582-05:00

Yesterday I scattered some safflower seed on the lower patio. In the afternoon, I counted 20 juncos feeding on that and the thistle seed fallen below the goldfinch feeders. A new record!

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-66893967472015736732012-01-15T12:30:00.000-05:002012-01-15T12:30:28.799-05:00

Man, how can I get so far behind on music in? I guess it's because with books, as soon as you finish it, you can normally review it. Whereas music you have to live with a while to give it a chance to sink in. Anyway, going back to October: "Biophilia", by Bjork. Ms. Guttmunsdottir, the world's greatest living composer, hits it out of the park again. Plus, lots of songs that express the

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-70900734852507337282012-01-15T11:38:00.000-05:002012-01-15T11:38:50.924-05:00

After my last post, I had that nagging feeling I had forgotten something. And I had: "Postsingular", by Rudy Rucker. I missed it because the paperback had been on my shelf for a while, and so didn't show up in my Kindle downloads listing. I really feel like, given his normal subject matter and background (computer science professor and Louisville native), I should like his stuff, but, he is

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-76829158708593960302011-12-25T13:09:00.000-05:002011-12-25T13:09:13.996-05:00

Still just reading for escapism. Tags for the post are "fantasy", "science fiction" and "urban fantasy". Tweeted on Oct 27th: Just finished "A Dance With Dragons". 5000 pages down, an estimated 25,000 more to go :-( This series is very good, but, I think he needs several authors helping him to finish this thing -- if indeed it is ever intended to be finished. So many characters, so many

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-60222376477388070622011-12-15T01:21:00.000-05:002011-12-15T01:29:05.102-05:00

Wow.So there was a great crowd at O'Neill's tonight, they were still playing at 10:40 when I left, past the 10:30 quitting time, because they still had a good crowd. I signed up at 7:40 and was like 8th guitarist on the list. I did get to play my 1st song with Sherri McGee on drums, what fun! We did "Who Do You Love", Sherri really rocks out on that, she is so fun to play with. Then did "

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-15861583156633756402011-12-13T08:51:00.000-05:002011-12-13T08:51:00.436-05:00

I actually had to read around 5 articles on squid anatomy via The Google before I found one that identified the clear, feather-like spine that supports the squid's mantle as the "pen". I guess it is an appropriate name.I made spaghetti sauce with diced calimari (squid) instead of meatballs last night. Kroger sells California squid frozen in 3 pound boxes. I partially thawed the box and split

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-19083500733988372372011-12-10T15:18:00.001-05:002011-12-10T15:38:37.670-05:00

This past Thursday at around 12:30, I getting ready to make my lunch and was looking out the back window. It was snowing fairly hard, although nothing stuck. There are the usual 5-6 goldfinches at the 2 feeders. And, on the ground, 6-8 juncos -- the advance scout had brought the whole gang!And then, on the pear tree right in front of the window, a downy woodpecker came around working its way

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-55225579175155765182011-12-07T23:46:00.001-05:002011-12-08T00:33:11.521-05:00

Aw man! Justin Wells got my slot for The Last Waltz doing "Mannish Boy". Justin is a monster, he is indeed more worthy. #AlmostARockStarSo once or twice a month after playing at O'Neill's on Wednesday night, I go into Lynagh's, where the Old Farts Blues Jam played for several years, and do 4-5 songs solo at their open mic. A couple of months ago, I was talking to Tim the bartender/drummer &

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-2554418637007688152011-12-04T11:52:00.001-05:002011-12-04T12:06:39.201-05:00

Cleaned and refilled my safflower seed feeder at the back of the yard yesterday. Scattered some safflower below the feeders and on both patios for the juncos. They only like to feed from the ground.Within an hour, there was a junco in the crabapple tree by the lower patio checking it out. But I didn't see him eat any. Normally they are in flocks of at least a half dozen birds. Maybe he was

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-57224674968956996162011-12-04T11:46:00.001-05:002011-12-04T12:08:45.461-05:00

Thursday night I'm walking my dog Dexter. Just taking our 6 o'clock stroll around the block (Lyon Dr and Ft. Harrod). There's a rabbit in the back yard but he doesn't see it -- he is at this point pretty oblivious to critters unless they trip his motion detectors. So we're out front on the sidewalk, he's running, running, running in the easement -- blam! Right into the next door neighbor's

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-60968385836461090822011-11-24T13:37:00.001-05:002011-11-24T14:28:22.161-05:00

So watched an Austin City Limits that was 100% Randy Newman, solo at the piano. That got me thinking of his song "Kingfish", which was recently covered by Levon Helm on his excellent album "Electric Dirt". I love the lines: Who took on the Standard Oil men and whipped their ass, Just like he promised he'd do? Ain't no Standard Oil men gonna run this state, Gonna be run by little folks like me

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-18797812531119323332011-11-20T21:30:00.001-05:002011-11-20T21:39:13.815-05:00

So basically, all human languages are generative -- which means, there is no limit to the complexity of the statements that can be constructed. For example: I saw the boy with the telescope who was watching the girl with the binoculars who was watching ... " And, basically, this made our brains get big, but it is not hard tech. I have written an interpreter and a compiler with a corresponding

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-55582245565901509152011-11-13T12:00:00.001-05:002011-11-13T12:06:32.803-05:00

I have been working full-time out of my home office since late June. The whole time there has been a very sporadic rattling of the screen in the window behind me. That window has a large burning bush in front of it. I assumed it was the wind blowing the burning bush against the screen -- although there would also sometimes be a bird chirping to accompany the rattling.Inside that window in my

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-14205668950634000582011-11-13T11:58:00.001-05:002011-11-13T11:59:30.565-05:00

From mid-morning to mid-afternoon. So didn't bike far. Out Keene Rd to Keene, back via 169 to 1967 to Military Pike and Parkers Mill. 22.1 miles, 1h40m, top speed 30.0 mph.

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-30434203304926239592011-11-10T21:26:00.001-05:002011-11-13T11:56:57.863-05:00

Holy crap! Got home, turned on the back lights, let Dexter out. Looked out and saw ... a full grown possum 10 ft from the door. Got between them and ran the possum off into the bushes, thought Dexter was following me in, then into the bushes he goes! Possum got him on the nose. Finally got Dexter corralled and carried him in. Put some neosporin on Dexter's nose.The last thing I need is my

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-7082944799830216242011-11-06T14:46:00.000-05:002011-11-13T11:57:29.785-05:00

So actually got some new yellow on my biking maps, and went the farthest north I have been. I took the Heritage Trail to Ironworks Pike, then east to Newtown Pike and north another 3-4 miles. Left (west) on Lemons Mill Rd. The northern maximum came at the intersection of Lemons Mill Rd and Lisle Rd (KY 1962 and 1963). Took Lisle back south to Georgetown Rd, then Ironworks to Yarnallton to

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-47803500759921886152011-11-05T14:50:00.000-04:002011-11-05T14:50:12.248-04:00

I feel like I've been doing better keeping up here -- except maybe for music in. Still need to figure out how to keep it from being quite so boring. Anyways, here's the Music In for August and September. "Cruisin with Ruben and the Jets", Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention (1968). One of the guys I play music with started talking about this, I offered to burn it for him. Turned out I

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-14987586624733035222011-10-31T20:01:00.001-04:002011-10-31T20:02:00.411-04:00

Interesting article in November Scientific American. A more scientific approach to philosophy, asking hundreds of test subjects to answer various thought problems. One interesting example on relativistic morality: if the morally ambiguous choice is fairly "here and now", then people decide with common sense, emotion, and "folk morality". If the choice is placed relatively far in the future,

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-37772817516754326422011-10-30T17:18:00.000-04:002011-10-30T17:18:27.186-04:00

Way overdid it today. I'm thinking, "Biking weather over soon, let's go for it!" -- mistake. So went to Clifton, the only place I've found where you can get down to the Kentucky River and then get back up without having to walk the bike. The road back up (heading south) is a long, gradual incline. Here's a view from between Lower Clifton and Old Clifton Roads: So went straight out Old

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-53233069464489064902011-10-23T20:11:00.000-04:002011-11-03T01:15:35.783-04:00

I liked Knotmuch Farm on the south side of Nonesuch.I quit biking to Nonesuch, which is much closer to the Kentucky River in western Woodford County than I would have thought, a few years ago. Funny how time managed to erase the memory of how bad those hills are. At least I came from the north rather the south. From the south, just past Clover Bottom Baptist Church and south of Nonesuch, there

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-33647050443434898602011-10-09T16:25:00.001-04:002011-10-09T16:25:48.461-04:00

Beautiful weather. I was afraid it was going to be too sunny this morning, but it wasn't. Biked to Highbridge Park, then took a long-cut back: north on KY 1268 then south on US 68 to KY 33, then back 33 and Keene Rd. 3h20m, 43.1 miles, top speed 34.3 mph. A nice long stop at the park, which has a beautiful scenic overlook over the junction of the Dix and Kentucky Rivers.That is such a

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-90282731665127412872011-10-02T17:36:00.000-04:002011-10-02T17:37:59.458-04:00

Maybe overdid it a little today. Took a long cut -- Parkers Mill to Ft Springs-Pinkard to Old Versailles to Rosalie to Bosworth to Elkchester to Redd instead of Van Meeter to Elkchester to Redd -- to Old Frankfort. Then Paynes Depot to Waizenberger Mill through Midway to Spring Hill Station. Then KY 1685 back to Old Frankfort to Pisgah Pike to Military. 41.9 miles, 3h29m, 1 stop, max speed 33

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-14133380115111034572011-09-29T00:17:00.000-04:002011-09-29T01:08:42.475-04:00

So played 6 straight tonight. Drippin' sweat when done. Somehow most of the audience decided to leave during this period. Somewhat discouraging. But I'm figuring it was just they had alarms set for 10:00 pm, of course, not that I sucked. I had my good friend and most excellent guitarist Ron Northrip behind me for the 1st three, and my good friend and most excellent guitarist King William (

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-30021604133648602852011-09-26T19:23:00.000-04:002011-09-26T19:23:42.656-04:00

So this past Sunday, I biked a route that I have done many times before, but for the first time in the opposite direction. I went straight out Delaney Ferry. Then, south on KY 33 to Cummings Ferry to Pauls Mill to KY 33 south of Troy, which I have always done the other way. Then back in Keene Rd. 2h24m 30.1 miles. The stretch on KY 33 seemed less steep than coming the other way. And Pauls

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-1175860832094863222011-09-18T16:24:00.000-04:002011-09-18T16:24:40.588-04:00

Biked north this morning, Van Meter to Redd to Paynes Depot, west on Moore's Mill towards Equus Run vineyard, but then north again on Cane Run over I-64 to Ironworks Pike. Back in Yarnallton to Spurr past the prisons, then Greendale to Alexandria and home through the baseball park. 3h0m, 37.3 miles, 2 stops, top speed 34.2 mph. I had checked the radar before I left and it looked like I might

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-13105238227526130852011-09-11T17:08:00.000-04:002011-09-12T08:19:45.137-04:00

Last weekend was 60's cold and rainy -- after having been 97 degrees 3 days before -- as Tropical Storm Lee met a Canadian cold front as it made its way to Ohio. At one point the low pressure cell was sitting over southern Ohio and dropping moisture from the Great Lakes onto us.Tropical Storm Lee formed in the southern Gulf of Mexico, west of the Yucatan peninsula, and worked its way up the Gulf

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-81452606058886960592011-08-28T16:03:00.000-04:002011-08-28T16:03:19.584-04:00

So took a half-hour walk with Dexter yesterday morning. Knee started hurting almost immediately, fought off limping the whole way. This morning, biked 39.25 miles, 3h6m, Waizenberger Mill Rd to Midway, then Hedden to Big Sink and back through Versailles. 5 or so degrees cooler than last week, very pleasant, but tired at the end. But, no knee pain at all for the entire ride. So I think in

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-24264727220646271402011-08-27T15:10:00.002-04:002011-08-27T15:18:01.382-04:00

Nice that being down to one job, I'm getting to read again. I need to remember that this blog is my exocortex and keep track of it here. I still follow my algorithm: no starting a book until the magazine stack is clear. The magazine stack is deemed clear when the most recent issue of "Wired" has been read. So anyway, read on the iPad in Kindle format, "The Clockwork Rocket", by Greg Egan.

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-44483492139576414522011-08-25T20:38:00.001-04:002011-08-25T20:50:56.501-04:00

So, a great 50's song, recorded by the Flamingos in 1959, right? Wrong, written for the 1934 (horribly sexist) musical "Dames". Initially performed by a very young Dick Powell (in an excellent tenor), sung to Ruby Keeler (who looks like my cousin Peg). Here's one Youtube link. Here's another, with a little bit of the incredibly psychedelic Busby Berkely choreography. After you know, you can

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-80418159968201109722011-08-21T12:59:00.000-04:002011-08-21T12:59:30.880-04:00

Took the Heritage Trail to the Horse Park today. 15.8 miles. Came back Yarnallton, Elkchester and Van Meter. 35.8 miles, 2h44m. 7-8 degrees hotter than last week, I was dying when I got home. Breezy today too. Funny how quickly a breeze can go from "so nice and cooling" to "f#cking headwind".

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-61541565207458896372011-08-14T13:56:00.000-04:002011-08-14T13:56:43.155-04:00

Thursday evening, I was on my lower patio cleaning up after grilling out, and our Cooper's Hawk came swooping down maybe 8 ft in front of my nose. She was 3 ft behind a dove. Crazy. Went for a short walk with Dexter yesterday morning. Malone to Beaumont Pkwy, then the path to the park and home. 2.3 miles, maybe 45 minutes. Bursitic knee hurting after 10 minutes. After coming through the

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-59225637586291398582011-08-06T11:42:00.000-04:002011-08-06T11:42:29.355-04:00

Last week just did 16.4 miles, out Parkers Mill through Little Texas, back in McGee, James and Military pike. This morning did 26.3, Van Meter to Redd to Psynes Mill, back in US 60 to Shannawood to McGee, James, and Military pike. Still hot and humid but a little better than the last couple of weeks.

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-82605345743802712932011-07-24T14:50:00.000-04:002011-07-24T14:50:31.687-04:00

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of biking 21.5 miles with my charming middle daughter. We went through Keene and came back via Clear Creek, 169, Woods Ln, and Delaney Ferry. We also visited Blockbuster and the Beaumont library in an unsuccessful quest for the movie "Green Card". This morning, I was going to go to the falls at Waizenberger Mill, but it was already getting nasty hot when I left

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-45769849317856737372011-07-12T20:24:00.000-04:002011-07-12T20:24:00.062-04:00

Took another short bike ride Sunday morning: 19.7 miles, Delaney Ferry to 169 to Keene and back in Keene Rd. Knee feels pretty good most of the time now but occasionally flares up in sharp pain :-( One thing about biking vs walking tho -- walking, you adjust your walk, up to and including limping, trying to avoid the pain. That gets your muscles sore, and your good leg as well. On a bike,

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-63066739469996687032011-07-03T13:32:00.002-04:002011-07-04T09:39:27.860-04:00

Biked this morning, 16.4 miles in 1h16m. I got diagnosed with bursitis (inflammation of the bursae) in my right knee a couple of months ago. My doc gave me samples of a new strong NSAID Arthrotec, that seemed to bring the pain under control -- no pain, no limping. It came back with a vengeance 2 weeks ago. I went on and got a script for the Arthrotec -- 90 day supply (2 a day), $125 copay,

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-37969687017935527132011-06-19T14:36:00.000-04:002011-06-19T14:36:09.982-04:00

A few nights ago I had 4 mockingbirds at the back feeders; I guess I know now who's eating the suet cakes. Nice to have mockingbirds back. A beautiful goldfinch came swooping up to the front (thistle) feeder , and a tiny (fearless) chickadee was hopping around 2 feet in front of my face. The (male) goldfinch popped his wings to brake and made a golden flash that was so startlingly beautiful,

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-86011829914807654752011-06-12T21:36:00.001-04:002011-06-12T21:37:06.774-04:00

I missed last weekend. My granddaughter Lucy was here with her parents, which gave me a great excuse to dodge the nasty 90+ heat. Heat has finally broken. Did 28.9 miles this morning, 2h25m, 1 stop, top speed 35.4 mph. Parkers Mill to Ft. Springs / Pinkard to Old Versailles to Rosalie to Bosworth to Elkchester to Redd to Old Frankfort to Paynes Depot to Waizenberger Mill. Back in Leestown to

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-20940564945469659802011-05-30T11:44:00.003-04:002011-07-03T12:40:28.574-04:00

Just walked Dexter 40 minutes this morning -- already nasty hot at 9:45. Biked 28.7 miles yesterday to Paul's Mill Rd. 2h18m, 1 stop. I thought about biking again this morning (Memorial Day), but my legs were pretty sore. Dexter and I did 1h20m Saturday morning, but it was 10-15 degrees cooler. In the hot weather, I'm going to try to keep his walks below 45m. He will be 16 YO next month. So

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-8489383748236841472011-05-22T12:21:00.000-04:002011-05-22T12:21:22.338-04:00

Finally, after being rained out 4 Sundays in a row, I got to bike this morning. When Keeneland is running, I go south rather than west or north to avoid the traffic. Keeneland was like April 9-30 this year, so after 4 weeks off, it was nice to go north. Van Meter to Elkchester to Old Frankfort Pike to Piscah Pike to Shannon Rd and back in Military Pike. 2h10m, 1 stop, 25.3 miles, max speed

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-74224481138417026222011-05-01T16:02:00.003-04:002011-05-01T16:09:30.211-04:00

No biking today, rain from 4 to 10 am. But Dexter and I had a nice 1h20m walk after the radar gave the all clear. So I will take this opportunity to get caught up on, what 7 months of new music? Lots of good stuff. I appear to be a total sucker for peppy pop and emo stuff. God, it goes back to liking early Todd Rundgren. Well, here we go: Phoenix. From Versailles, France, with southern

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-64958351338443697922011-04-30T11:47:00.001-04:002011-05-01T09:22:07.986-04:00

Heuristic # 16,348 states: All songs with the woman's name "Anna" in them are good songs. The Rule of Three (1st time's an accident; 2nd time's a coincidence; 3rd time's data) was fired by "Dammit Anna" by The Morning Benders. It's been stuck in my head for a couple of days now. Anna song #1 was "Anna (Go To Him)", by Arthur Alexander, covered by the Beatles. Anna song #2 was "Anna Begins",

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-28315573530813616802011-04-28T22:57:00.001-04:002011-04-28T22:58:17.765-04:00

So you watch "Inside Job", and ask, where are the indictments? Where are the special prosecutors? I read a piece a few days ago that said: after the S&L/Keating scandal of the 80's. there were many indictments and many convictions because, while the bad behavior was going on, Federal regulators were gathering data that later became evidence. But, for the 2008 financial meltdown brought on by

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-65164839520614311042011-04-19T08:57:00.002-04:002011-04-19T08:57:56.628-04:00

I dreamt that I was walking with my granddaughter Lucy. She was 5 or 6 years old. We were on the Beaumont paths. Dexter wasn't there.

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-47808237258556515372011-04-17T11:49:00.001-04:002011-04-19T08:56:32.446-04:00

Beautiful and sunny morning, a little chilly at the start, and bad winds the first hour. I only did about 11.5 miles in that first hour, slow even for me. Finished with 22.2 miles in 1h50m.

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-18396925044049347982011-04-10T11:35:00.000-04:002011-04-10T11:35:12.031-04:00

Apparently this is the 200th post to this blog. 200 down, 200 to go? First bike ride of the year this morning. 16.3 miles, 1h20m. Parkers Mill to Little Texas, back in via James Ln and Delaney Ferry. Uphill all the way. Watched "Inside Job" last night. Where are the indictments? Where are the special prosecutors? I'm getting tired of fighting the man, but, we have to keep on keeping on.

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-2100547997662725612011-01-15T09:46:00.000-05:002011-01-15T09:46:13.628-05:00

Thursday and Friday I was feeling really worn out -- maybe all this freezing weather. I resolved to get up this morning, take the dog out, and go back to bed. Which I did around 8. So back in bed, I'm in the hypnagogic state, half awake, half dreaming, and I notice three times that the hit parade (the music that always plays in my head) is playing original songs! Brand new! Just then made up!

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-11073786573157521622011-01-09T09:57:00.001-05:002011-01-09T10:00:11.541-05:00

Happy New Year! I was looking for a file from late 2000 on my computer and stumbled across ... the outline for a book I was apparently thinking about writing, dated November 18, 1999. I had completely forgotten about this. A post-humanist manifesto!  It does look like topics that were covered in the blog. Anyway, here it is: In Our Childhood –  The Human Race Emerges from its Infancy “

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-15302836789950192792010-12-04T23:12:00.001-05:002010-12-04T23:17:51.226-05:00

I first encountered hyperreality 5 years ago, as described here. If you ever doubt the validity of the concept, go to Las Vegas -- hyperreality writ large. More real than real. I hadn't been to Vegas since maybe 1994. Even back then, it was, who can be more gaudy and garish. The sky's the limit -- cancel that, there is no limit. This time, I stayed at the Luxor. So, I'm inside a pyramid, on

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-22332939223382637032010-11-26T15:41:00.003-05:002011-08-11T01:04:08.162-04:00

Libertarians have now achieved the greatest success in their history. They have their first ever US senator, and congressmen to join the pater familias, Ron Paul. So now Libertarians want to open a dialogue, and tell us all about their Libertarian philosophy and principles. I have one word in reply, which I learned from our senior senator, Mitch McAsshole: no. I do not want to discuss a

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-75765402388662221012010-11-26T11:31:00.000-05:002010-11-26T11:31:24.215-05:00

I think I have formulated a new heuristic for selecting reading material: avoid add-ons to an existing popular corpus. I just finished "The Children of Hurin", by J.R.R. Tolkien (and his son Christopher). Not as disjointed as "The Silmarillion", but very stilted in its narrative style. Not quite sure what the moral was. The bad guy (Sauron's old boss) curses the family of the main characters

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-27550657095762798392010-11-21T17:33:00.002-05:002010-11-21T20:06:51.745-05:00

Had a couple of titmice at our birdbath this morning (titmouse is German for "small bird"). I also saw what looked like a kingbird. I see those fairly often out on the country roads, but I've never seen one in the city. Now that I think of it, tho, it might have been a junco. About time for them to be showing up. But, I think it was bigger than a junco. I'm holding out for kingbird. Biked to

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-25253129486896610032010-11-20T12:07:00.000-05:002010-11-20T12:07:53.330-05:00

"Zero History" is William Gibson's latest. He once again turns to the modern world of "Pattern Recognition" and "Spook Country", where he somehow is able to make anti-marketing fashion trends seem numinous and liminal. These are his best books since "Neuromancer" in 1984. There were at least a couple of dozen places where Gibson's surreal metaphors and turn of phrase made me laugh out loud. I

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-79763103987356300782010-11-14T17:58:00.000-05:002010-11-14T17:58:36.545-05:00

Not quite sure what to make of the "Makers" movement. I have read this blog post several times, and it still does not all seem to be sinking in. Just as the ease of copying music has wreaked havoc with IP there, the spread of cheap 3D printers and DNA sequencers will also wreak havoc. So many of the concepts of current Intellectual Property and patent law are so outrageous. Like corporations

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-7453102885017159422010-11-06T17:52:00.000-04:002010-11-06T17:52:54.217-04:00

So the Faux News "Outrage of the Day" yesterday was that President Obama's five day trip to India, Indonesia, and Japan was going to cost taxpayers $1 billion dollars!!! And in tough economic times like these!!! Faux based this figure on five days times $200 million a day, a number which came from an Indian newspaper. The only problem is, that number is high by a factor of 20. The real number

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-89344751213568349852010-11-06T14:09:00.002-04:002010-11-09T23:54:35.551-05:00

So quite a while ago, I did a post that computed the amount of storage to snapshot the state of a human brain at 10,000 terabytes -- now known as 10 petabytes. I posted that number to Charlie Stross's blog -- which has some really good discussions -- and someone commented, "But surely you'd compress the data." Duh. The state of a brain is obviously highly compressible. And, the deltas to that

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-38633799341583175332010-10-31T16:56:00.001-04:002010-10-31T17:03:10.850-04:00

Beautiful morning for biking, a little brisk at first. Got to Midway and decided that, since I'd eaten at Azur twice in the past week, I should keep going. So went on to Spring Hill Station, then back through downtown Versailles, 43.4 miles, 3h25m. Legs not great, butt definitely hurts. Early on saw two huge red-tailed hawks, on Van Meter and on Redd. The 2nd one paced me for a while, it was

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-13762305112907662782010-10-30T16:49:00.002-04:002010-11-09T23:59:36.789-05:00

I named him "Random Paul" because I was guessing no one would be able to predict what came out of his mouth. He surely did not disappoint. We don't just have a top 10, we have a baker's dozen! I have also given each randomism a rating from 0 to 3 points in the following categories, which reflect various aspects of the simple yet complex package that is Random Paul: sense of entitlement (E);

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-25203922956004416352010-10-24T20:50:00.000-04:002010-10-24T20:50:52.530-04:00

What a beautiful day to be on a bike. Temperature perfect, but headwinds all the way home. I decided to try the Legacy Trail again. 15.7 miles from my house to the Horse Park. The trail is nice and flat, but on the whole trip, I had to stop for lights and come out of a clip 3 times. I think I prefer the county roads. Came back Ironworks to Yarnallton -- headwinds 5-10 mph as soon as I

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-73627311434764566422010-10-17T23:00:00.000-04:002010-10-17T23:00:09.251-04:00

So I was at Keeneland today, with one of my wife's groups of coworkers. Beautiful Sunday afternoon, high in the upper 70's, bright sunshine, mild cooling breezes. I would estimate that 15-20% of the patrons were children, of all ages. Growing up, my dad loved to bet on the horses, and would go to Churchill Downs, occasionally accompanied by my mom. Going to the track involved Gambling, which

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-47283597526248067432010-10-17T11:13:00.000-04:002010-10-17T11:13:24.770-04:00

Phew, finally finished reading the Ruby/Rails book, now for something fun. Alexander Jablokov was a sci-fi author who wrote some very good novels in the early '90s. "Carve The Sky" was an art murder mystery. "A Deeper Sea" gave us talking dolphins that everybody wished would just shut up. But then he kind of disappeared. So I was pleasantly surprised when I was browsing in Joseph-Beth

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-58854220552149743192010-10-15T22:29:00.000-04:002010-10-15T22:29:26.043-04:00

The Uplift Trilogy, David Brin. Anything by Dan Simmons. "Hyperion" and "Fall of Hyperion" are literary, I am rereading soon, for the 4th-5th time. Gregory Benford "Great Sky River" has several sequels. Charles Stross is the best new author of the last 5 years. William Gibson -- "Neuromancer" in 1984 created cyberpunk. Some of the sequels to that were weak, his last 3 novels are totally back

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-69832991767309815072010-10-14T07:59:00.001-04:002010-10-14T07:59:25.451-04:00

So I posted this to Facebook after playing last night. In the interest of being kinder, gentler, reconciliatory, etc, I pulled it and removed the last two sentences. Here's the original rant. Random Paul wants to repeal the 16th Amendment and replace the graduated income tax with a sales tax -- the less money you make, the greater a percentage of your income you pay! Wow, fabulously

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-76344894372469790542010-10-09T09:44:00.000-04:002010-10-09T09:44:35.933-04:00

You can still only get his Friday newsletter by email, so I can't link to it. Here's the first item from yesterday, very well said: 1. IN VITRO FERTILIZATION: R.G. EDWARDS WINS MEDICINE NOBEL PRIZE. The most essential qualification for a Nobel Prize is often longevity. Now 85 and in failing health; Prof. Edwards was a graduate student at the University of Edinburg in Scotland when he

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-14241414729653298562010-10-05T22:18:00.001-04:002010-10-05T22:22:33.880-04:00

Erica has chided me for communicating with her privately about recent "Music In" rather than blogging about it here. So, I will correct my error. In particular, after Erica had recommended it for years, I finally purchased "Illinoise", by Sufjan Stevens when it was on sale at amazon for $5. 22 tracks, catchy tunes, great variety in orchestration, instrumentation, and time signatures -- I like

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-43570976442166943782010-10-05T20:16:00.003-04:002010-10-05T22:27:48.038-04:00

My brother Mark just emailed me this. I really like it. The title says it all. To the Editor: Rand Paul recently quoted Ronald Reagan thusly: “Government is not a solution to our problem, government is the problem.” Still, Republicans across the country are blasting Obama and the Democrats for not creating more jobs, as if they want it both ways. Which is it? Should government stay out of

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-57827816886752134562010-10-02T16:33:00.001-04:002010-10-02T16:34:58.057-04:00

www.thingsbearslove.com Laughed until I cried. Given to a coop by one of our senior developers as a reward for getting some cool new stuff working.

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-41004010890034724932010-10-02T16:10:00.002-04:002010-10-02T16:23:01.369-04:00

I'm going try and change the posting style, more to shorter, single topic posts. Hopefully more of them. So, I can't get over the US Supreme Court's decision to allow unlimited corporate contributions to political campaigns, so as not to infringe their right to free speech. This is so contrary to any common sense approach to the Bill of Rights that it totally boggles the mind. And we are

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-74026262565501081282010-09-16T21:17:00.004-04:002010-09-16T21:23:05.925-04:00

After a very nice 3-day weekend in Raleigh, NC, on Monday we came home to an empty bird bath, which I filled. Shortly thereafter, my friend the Cooper's hawk was back. I think that this is a testament to the depth of the drought we have had since the start of August. I tried to move around and get a picture of the tail from the other side, but it saw me and flew off. It was there again

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-58658686012021086312010-09-06T19:02:00.004-04:002010-09-06T19:05:27.794-04:00

Gotta love that tag line. Another nice post by Christopher Hitchens.

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-36926775035634662402010-09-05T13:37:00.008-04:002010-09-05T14:50:02.505-04:00

After at least a couple of years of adding no new yellow highlighting to my bicycling maps -- which means I hadn't been on any new roads -- I get to add some today! I wanted to try the brand new Legacy Trail from downtown out to the horse park. So went through Ft. Harrods Park and picked up the Beaumont walking trails and then cut through the baseball park to come out on Parkers Mill. Took

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-86268649210641887212010-08-31T20:01:00.009-04:002010-09-01T06:55:51.506-04:00

So I posted to Facebook (guilty) a nice analysis of Glenn Dick's "we're not racists" rally by Christopher Hitchens. I received a negative comment from my musician friend Max Corona. I would like to respond to two of his statements. "Our country is in the toilet." -- Well, W. must have forgot to flush. Rush Blowhard and Glenn Dick were calling for Obama's impeachment on his first day of office.

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-61075954298595860202010-08-29T11:42:00.006-04:002010-08-29T17:55:33.174-04:00

You can tell it's a big Teabagger weekend. Riding my bike I saw a pickup truck flying the stars and bars (in addition to the stars and stripes). 9/12 driving to Naples we saw 2 or 3 40-50 foot confederate flags flying. But teabaggers aren't racist, no sir, not at all. They want to "return to the values of the founding fathers" -- and if half of the founding fathers happened to be slave owners

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-58331378357175000862010-07-25T11:15:00.004-04:002010-07-25T11:54:03.354-04:00

This summer has definitely been miserable hot. Apparently the resident avian predator of our neighborhood thought so too. I took the picture from in the house, zoomed (note the screen). I was sure if I tried to get outside to take it he would fly off. He flew off anyway about a minute after I took the picture. He was buzzed by grackles twice in that period. The bird bath is 21 inches

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-33895977146311316342010-07-24T11:35:00.002-04:002010-07-24T11:49:04.703-04:00

I thought I had blogged on this before but couldn't find anything. Oh well. The wife and I saw "Inception" last night. Very nice, good acting, nice pacing, wonderful logical consistency. A bit of a thinker, but no where near the mental tickle of "Mememto". But, it just didn't quite work for me because: the wonderfully complex plan that gets carried out was way too complex to ever have

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-74939413066365873522010-07-18T11:32:00.003-04:002010-07-18T11:46:10.837-04:00

Biked this morning 8:30 to 11:10. Surprisingly cool breezes even towards the end. 33.6 miles, top speed 35.9 mph (???). Delaney Ferry to James to McGee to Shannawood to Dry Ridge to Scott Ferry. Back in McCracken Pike, Huntertown, and Parkers Mill. On Dry Ridge, saw a red-headed woodpecker. The white bar on their lower back and wings is really striking. Then I saw 3 of them in a tree,

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-85796416918130472572010-07-17T13:55:00.004-04:002010-07-18T21:04:10.163-04:00

Man, I started this series February 6 and here it is July 17 -- must be as boring to me as it is to you. Regardless, we have made it to the final installment. It used to be mostly the catholic church, with its third world "breed, baby, breed" strategy for keeping its numbers up, that was the primary opponent of birth control. But, the American neo-puritan/conservatives decided to get in on the

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-20999349586390851402010-06-20T22:26:00.005-04:002010-06-20T23:01:47.453-04:00

Biking at 8:15, not quite as humid, but still got an earache and sore throat after 1/2 hour, so pollen must be bad. Finally went north, Van Meter to Redd to Old Frankfort to Browns Mill to Leestown to Weizenberger Mill (pic) to Payne's Depot to Pisgah and back in Military Pike. 29 miles, 2h20m, 1 stop. After cooldown and shower, in to Louisville for jambalaya at Joe's OK Bayou and then swimming

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-12157188382114068942010-06-15T19:15:00.007-04:002010-06-16T19:09:31.933-04:00

Per today's Herald-Leader, Random Paul doesn't like that The American Board of Ophthalmology is grandfathering in older diplomates (who were given undated certificates) such that they don't have to recertify (but he does). I was Director of Information Systems at the American Board of Family Practice (now the American Board of Family Medicine) from 1980 to 1986. I acted as a computer consultant

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-90920681421600958252010-06-13T11:36:00.004-04:002010-06-13T11:56:11.315-04:00

Finally biked after a 2 month hiatus. 28 miles to Pauls Mill Rd prolly a little much. (Tiger)Lilies blooming everywhere, and, on US 33 just north of Troy, a Baltimore Oriole burst out of the foliage and paced me for a few seconds. Black and bright orange, amazing! I have only seem one of those once before, on Leestown Rd about 7-8 years ago, I think. Orange tiger lilies and the oriole, I

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-39191741250658799372010-05-22T14:24:00.002-04:002010-05-22T14:28:31.920-04:00

Jebus is OK!!! He's in this guy's lung!!! Phew, what a relief!!! The full story is available here.

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-15359535255631393732010-05-22T11:00:00.006-04:002010-05-22T11:44:12.715-04:00

From "What's New", the newsletter of Robert L. Park, professor emeritus at U of Maryland and noted skeptic: 1. BIRTH OF SCIENCE: NEXT FRIDAY, MAY 28, SCIENCE WILL BE 2,595 YEARS OLD. On May 28, 585 B.C. the swath of a total solar eclipse passed over the Greek island of Miletus. The early Greek philosopher, Thales of Miletus, alone understood what was happening. The world's first recorded

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-43673189976638770722010-04-30T22:20:00.004-04:002010-05-22T14:33:45.815-04:00

So if I post something fabulous to my blog and get no response, no problem. But you post something fabulous to Facebook and get: 1 child, 1 sibling, 1 coworker. I don't know. I'm tempted to just go back to the blog. So here it is: I found Stonewall Jackson in the marble tile floor of our 1st floor bathroom. What's he done with Jebus? I sure hope Jebus is ok ... This is about as funny as I

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-2603968036948407132010-04-12T20:49:00.007-04:002010-04-12T21:21:21.433-04:00

After some extemporaneous rants, we return to the extended, multi-part rant. Religous opposition to stem cell and cloning research follows two themes: The "all human cells are potential people and as such may have souls" magical thinking. As in the discussion of abortion, if we are going to do everything possible to protect back to the zygote stage, then clearly these cells are off limit to any

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-46032638451329084782010-04-04T15:13:00.003-04:002010-04-09T20:18:13.098-04:00

So, UPS dropped off an iPad here yesterday. I had ordered the cheapest one: 16GB, Wifi only, on the 1st day you could. I thought they started at $400, oops, $500. Oh well. Two reasons for ordering: For a couple of years, I have been wanting a tablet computer that I hold in my hands and sit in a comfy chair and surf the web, read RSS feeds, read Web comics, maybe read eBooks. The iPad seemed

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-8571401506707735842010-04-04T14:20:00.003-04:002010-04-04T14:47:34.511-04:00

I had a letter to the editor in the Herald Leader a few weeks ago supporting health care reform. I sent this one in Friday night, in response to a letter writer justifying the Iraq war and naysaying the health care reform (which has passed!) with, "In the Bible, the story of the Good Samaritan is a classic example of non-governmental intrusion.". My response: I would like to discuss a couple

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-29214689104843234082010-04-04T14:09:00.003-04:002010-04-09T20:19:10.702-04:00

In my capacity as Founder, Chief Elder, and Spokesperson for the Church of Holiday Movie Personages, it is my duty and pleasure to wish everyone a Happy Bunny Day! CHMP (pronounced chump) worships exclusively The Easter Bunny and Santa Claus. Santa's elves are included in the pantheon in a role similar to angels, but anyone attempting to add Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer to make a trinity is,

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-58984095554141242292010-02-28T11:47:00.003-05:002010-02-28T12:33:47.189-05:00

I pulled some off-topic expansion from the last post on abortion: on the whining WASPs still want those rights applied only to "real Americans" -- i.e., whining WASPs and patriarchal societies wanting to keep women in their place to bolster the fragile egos of a male mindset that deep down knows that it is losing its place in the world Leonard Pitts, Jr. touched on this topic in his column

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-35344062409542000222010-02-28T10:03:00.003-05:002010-02-28T11:42:52.168-05:00

So we're driving to Florida a couple of weeks ago. We saw several anti-abortion billboards, with two major messages: Every day another 3600 children die. We'll get to the "children" later, but first let's do some math. 3600 times 365 equals 1,314,000. So that's 1.3 million women per year whose intelligence, rights and moral decision-making the religious would like to trample. If breeding

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-21845795859661728932010-02-06T15:19:00.005-05:002010-02-28T10:01:16.409-05:00

"Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution" -- Theodosius Dobzhansky, 1973. Evolution is one of the four great theories of modern science. The other three are special and general relativity; the standard model of elementary particles; and quantum chromodynamics. Thanks to christian academies, home schooling, and things like the creation anti-museum, we now have, what,

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-81933523724202691952010-02-06T11:46:00.006-05:002010-02-06T15:18:05.588-05:00

After that last post, I find myself saying: "You know, you have friends and relatives who are religious, why not just live and let live? Do you have to keep doing these snarky posts?" And the answer is, yes, I do. I used to be very much in agreement with John Lennon's "whatever gets you through the night, it's all right" and Del Hilgartner's "hey, take a look around, it's only people". But in

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-51869657699219653332010-01-31T10:45:00.003-05:002010-01-31T11:04:31.371-05:00

I mean, come on, what can you imagine that's more of a self parody than christian football players. So picture Jebus Crisp -- The Prince of Peace -- putting the pads and the helmet on. Here's this 5 ft tall, 110 lb wiry Jewish guy taking the field with the 300 pounders. LOL. What position would he play? I guess he has to be the quarterback -- who would want to be giving Jebus orders? Point

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-80628341509482649192010-01-30T09:30:00.006-05:002010-01-30T09:54:03.661-05:00

"Avatards" is courtesy of my favorite tech news source The Register -- pretty much Slashdot meets Monty Python, with Playmobil figures thrown in. Anyway, my wife and I saw "Avatar" in 3d a couple of weeks ago. Very pretty movie, and the pacing was good. The 3d I found more of a distraction than a feature. Over 50 years of putting myself in movieland, I'm pretty good at it. I think we all are

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-55513753645966572122010-01-25T20:36:00.010-05:002010-01-30T09:59:02.032-05:00

So, after last week's (republican traitor) supreme court (where TF is Diana Ross when we need her?) decision that corporations no longer have to shake down their employees for contributions to their PACs -- no, way too much trouble, now the corporations can just use as much of their $10s of billions in profits to buy as many legislators as they need -- the end of democracy in America, replaced by

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-42863561496962184792008-11-01T19:04:00.001-04:002008-11-01T19:06:20.459-04:00

Pasted verbatim from Rudy Rucker's blog: Tuesday is the big election day we’ve been waiting for. It’s finally our chance to be heard! Help the Democrats take over the Presidency, the Senate and the House! Let’s get our country working again. Let’s heal the damages of the last eight years. And don’t assume the Democrats can win without you. Remember 2000 and 2004? A close election can be stolen

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-25852217425001448612008-07-19T11:09:00.006-04:002008-07-19T12:14:02.422-04:00

Just got back from a 1.5 hr walk with the dog. After 2 blocks, I'm like, "this heat is brutal". No biking tomorrow, I don't think, maybe a short walk. The latest cold front from Canada is now stalled as an east-west stationary front over the Great Lakes. My prediction is we will be into drought for the rest of the summer. The cold fronts just can't fight their way south through the warm,

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-3569395013240014952008-07-06T15:27:00.006-04:002008-07-06T16:37:37.421-04:00

Thanks to my oldest daughter the graphic designer, the blog now has a snappy new header, woo-hoo! She has gone back to freelancing, so any of my multitudinous readers needing a fabulous graphic designer can check out her work and contact her here: www.energy7.com Had an interesting music weekend last weekend. My wife was on third shift, so she left for work at 8pm and got home at 8am Friday,

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-16752424792643445502008-06-22T18:18:00.005-04:002008-07-04T13:41:44.406-04:00

So last Sunday did 26.4 miles in 2h10m, 1 stop. This morning did 33 miles in 2h40m, 1 stop. Felt surprisingly good the last 5 miles. It really helps, the cooler weather we've been having. After my b-day weekend of 6/8, the 5-day forecast has looked the same -- high 78 to 84, partly cloudy, chance of storm. The storms are late afternoon, or 5 in the morning, and last about 10 minutes. Nice

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-63432426983898269252008-06-09T20:42:00.008-04:002008-06-09T21:28:16.410-04:00

Too Damn Hot So, Memorial Day weekend in Lexington Ky (the highest carbon footprint per capita in the US! -- we're so proud !) was 3 days of gorgeous -- partly cloudy, bright sunshine, low 80's. Last weekend was also OK, I biked 30.1 miles in 2h50m with 2 stops. Yesterday, 94 degrees with about 90% humidity -- I got to Old Frankfort Pike and said, time to head for home -- after 3 of the roller

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-52092212563427468372008-05-24T15:28:00.001-04:002008-05-24T15:30:23.370-04:00

A Little Better It was a beautiful morning, not a cloud in the sky, a little wind. I biked 21 miles in 1h50m. A little rough at first, but better towards the end. I think that's a good sign.

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5357044.post-41182592200503719652008-05-18T12:07:00.005-04:002008-06-29T23:38:44.794-04:00

Walk This Way Haven't biked after that first time. Our May has been rainy, cool and windy. I did walk 90 minutes yesterday and today with the dog tho. Played guitar a while yesterday at LexJam. I would say an inferior product to our Wednesday jam at O'Neills. At one point a guy rather than saying "12 bar blues in A with a quick 4" proceded to call out all the chord changes for the 1st 3

Chris Heinzhttps://profiles.google.com/109954400301849205377noreply@blogger.com0