Confucius again:Zixia said: "If day by day one is aware of what one lacks, but month by month never forgets what one is capable of, one may definitely be said to be fond of learning."
The "lacking" thing? Easy.
The "capable of" bit? Not so much.
It's somebody's birthday today!
When I was One,
I had just begun.
When I was Two,
I was nearly new.
When I was Three
I was hardly me.
When I was Four,
I was not much more.
When I was Five, I was just alive.
But now I am Six, I'm as clever as clever,
So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.
- A. A. Milne
Good news! They're going to refurbish the Hubble Space Telescope.When astronauts overhaul the Hubble Space Telescope this summer, they will leave behind a vastly more powerful orbital observatory to scan the universe.
Yea!
Set to launch aboard NASA's shuttle Atlantis on Aug. 7, the Hubble servicing mission will be the fifth - and final - sortie to upgrade the aging space telescope.
"We're not only going up to Hubble to refurbish it, but also to expand its grasp tremendously," said Alan Stern, associate administrator for NASA's science mission directorate, in a recent briefing. "We expect to make the very best discoveries of the entire two-decade plus Hubble program with the new instruments to be installed."
"This refurbished Hubble [will be] a new telescope," said astronomer Sandra Faber of the University of California, Santa Cruz. "We estimate that at the end of this repair Hubble will be 90 times more powerful than when it was first launched."
"When the astronauts leave Hubble for the last time, it will be at the apex of its capabilities," said senior project scientist David Leckrone of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "It will be the first time since 1993 that there will be five working instruments aboard."
The result, researchers said, is about five extra years of science for Hubble before its controlled deorbit sometime after 2020. To prepare for the space telescope's eventual demise, spacewalkers will also attach a connecting port that will allow a robotic tug to dock with Hubble.
"None of us could have imagined what this fourth-generation suite of instruments can do," said Stern, adding the 90-fold jump in observation power for Hubble will be unprecedented. "We will have the capability, literally, of approximately 100 Hubbles [circa] 1990 when this mission is done."
The last I'd heard, I thought they were going to let it die.
"The Righteous Path" by the Drive-by Truckers.
It makes you want to shout, "Yeeeeee-haww!"
Seriously.
Another from the Analects of Confucius. Today I ran across his version of the Golden Rule. It's virtually the same. This is Book 15, Chapter 24:Zigong asked, "Is there a single word such that one could practice it throughout one's life?" The Master said: "Reciprocity perhaps? Do not inflict on others what you yourself would not wish done to you."
I like that word, "reciprocity." I also like the way it's phrased as a question. Uncertainty is more often a virtue than a fault.
Kids don't like clowns.Bad news for Coco and Blinko -- children don't like clowns and even older kids are scared of them.
Mari-Rose doesn't like them, either ... bad experience at the Bozo show. (Don't ask.)
The study, reported in the Nursing Standard magazine, found all the 250 patients aged between four and 16 they quizzed disliked the use of clowns [as decorations in kids' rooms], with even the older ones finding them scary.
"We found that clowns are universally disliked by children. Some found them quite frightening and unknowable."
I must be the outlier in this survey. I liked clowns when I was little. They gave me candy at parades and made me laugh at the circus. The only weird part for me was, sometimes at local parades and fairs, my dad would talk to one of them that he knew. The clown would totally break character - so even though he was still in his clown costume, he'd suddenly become this sort of fat, ordinary, middle-aged guy talking to my dad about cars and taxes and stuff.
You'll like The Mary Onettes.
I swear, almost every band I find myself liking these days is a Swedish pop group.
On a walk today.
It was just barely poking out of the frozen ground in the park, right here in Atlanta, Illinois.
It must be a tough little bugger, to be growing in this weather. At present the temperature is 26 degrees, with a dusting of snow on the ground.
I guess the dandelion sprouted last weekend, when it got very warm and springlike and rained biblically, flooding Pontiac and Watseka.
This makes two years in a row I've seen something odd in January. Last year I saw a robin. But last winter was extremely warm, until we got a cold blast in February. This winter has been quite normal.
By the way, if you want to feel warm, just do a Google Image search for dandelions. Endless images of spring.
I'd noticed this trend anecdotally, but today it appears in the newspaper of record: Our No. 2 beer, the Weyerbacher Double Simcoe I.P.A., seemed to embody the term “killer,” the extreme beer fan’s favorite compliment. Killer hops, killer fruit, overwhelming yet bearable, even enjoyable, because it is so well balanced. The No. 3 beer, the I.P.A. Maximus from Lagunitas, was something of a lightweight in this crowd with a mere 7.5 percent alcohol, yet it was lively and energetic with a lush citrus perfume. Overproduction of hops in the early 1990s resulted in excess supply and depressed prices, said Ralph Olson, a hops dealer based in Yakima, Wash. As a result, world hop acreage has fallen from about 234,000 in 1994 to 113,000 in 2006. It may take several years, Mr. Olson suggested, for hops production to be able to meet current demands.Whether using an inordinate amount of traditional ingredients like malt or hops, or adding flavorings undreamed of by Old World brewers, American brewers have created a signature style that beer enthusiasts seem both to love and hate.
I've not tried the beer, but I like the idea. Not everyone does, though:
Forget about I.P.A.’s, strong, hoppy brews developed by the British centuries ago to withstand the ocean voyage to colonial India. Americans are now making double I.P.A.’s, Extreme I.P.A.’s, even Unearthly I.P.A.’s.
From Asia to Italy, brewers are trying to emulate these beers. Not content with the Moylander Double I.P.A., Brendan Moylan, the founder of Moylan Brewing Company in Novato, Calif., now makes what he calls a triple I.P.A., Hopsickle Imperial, which he said was “the hoppiest beer on earth.”“The hoppiest beer?” asked Garrett Oliver, brewmaster of the Brooklyn Brewery. “It’s a fairly idiotic pursuit, like a chef saying, ‘This is the saltiest dish.’ Anyone can toss hops in a pot, but can you make it beautiful?”
Yum. So what's good?
Most of the extreme beers today are characterized by their ultrahoppiness. Of the 25 beers we tasted, at least 20 of them would fall into the category of exaggerated I.P.A.’s regardless of what they call themselves.To carry their extraordinary bitterness and aromatic zest, these beers need a sturdy foundation, so they tend to have outsize malty qualities as well as high alcohol.Our favorite was the robust 90 Minute Imperial I.P.A. from Dogfish Head, a beer that balances its exaggerated caramel and chocolate sweetness with a bracing bitterness derived from hops.
Now I know some brands to look for. But alackaday! All is not well!The brewing world is now facing an international hops shortage. No, it’s not because of the daunting amount of hops used in many extreme beers. It’s more a result of the normal cycle of supply and demand.
Sigh. Some rain must fall...
So ... last night after rehearsal for the play I'm doing at the local community theatre, a few of us in the cast go out for a frosty beverage. It's a tradition of sorts on Tuesdays.
At the local watering hole, a few other people always show up - people who do stuff at the theatre but aren't involved in this particular production. Everybody knows that the theatre people will be there on Tuesday night, so they just come.
Last night, I noticed something odd. One of these other people - a collegeish-aged young woman whom I've seen there a couple of times - really, really doesn't like me. She shot me a couple of dirty looks, and when I left for the evening, gave me a contemptuous sneer before looking way. Trust me about this - she's an actress, so if she wants to nonverbally communicate contempt, she's really good at it.
The weird thing is, I don't think I've ever said more than two words to her. She's been at the Tuesday night table a few times, but we've never had any conversation or anything.
Which is curious to me. She clearly does not like me. Why? I can understand why someone - probably most people - would be ambivalent about me. I'm just this guy, you know? But I don't understand why someone would make such a display of disliking me, when I haven't even talked to her.
Anyway - she hate me.
I've been browsing through the Analects of Confucius lately. Today I liked this one (Book 15, Chapter 19):The Master said: "The gentleman is pained at the lack of ability within himself; he is not pained at the fact that others do not appreciate him."
How odd.
First, I found this story in Time Magazine:
After six years of childless marriage, John and Cynthia Burke of Newark decided to adopt a baby boy through a state agency. Since the Burkes were young, scandal-free and solvent, they had no trouble with the New Jersey Bureau of Children's Services—until investigators came to the line on the application that asked for the couple's religious affiliation.Now, two veryweird things about this:
John Burke, an atheist, and his wife, a pantheist, had left the line blank. As a result, the bureau denied the Burkes' application. After the couple began court action, however, the bureau changed its regulations, and the couple was able to adopt a baby boy from the Children's Aid and Adoption Society in East Orange.
Last year the Burkes presented their adopted son, David, now 3, with a baby sister, Eleanor Katherine, now 17 months, whom they acquired from the same East Orange agency. Since the agency endorsed the adoption, the required final approval by a judge was expected to be pro forma. Instead, Superior Court Judge William Camarata raised the religious issue.
In an extraordinary decision, Judge Camarata denied the Burkes' right to the child because of their lack of belief in a Supreme Being. Despite the Burkes' "high moral and ethical standards," he said, the New Jersey state constitution declares that "no person shall be deprived of the inestimable privilege of worshiping Almighty God in a manner agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience."
Judge Camarata ordered the parents to send David's sister back to the New Jersey adoption agency. Two weeks ago, aided by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Burkes appealed directly to the New Jersey Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case. If they fail in their appeal, Eleanor Katherine may have to leave the only family she has ever known and await adoption by another couple whose religious convictions satisfy the State of New Jersey.
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.
It's good stuff, too. Brit pop. I like the song they've got as a free download, "Waiting for the Monster to Drown."
From the Washington Post:In Sweden, Britain and Italy, new homes average under 1,000 square feet. By 2005, the average newly built U.S. home measured 2,434 square feet...
The only thing that surprises me is, I thought the average new U.S. house would have been bigger than that. Most of the new ones I see are a lot bigger.
