Tory -
You are most welcome... Doug sums up what you said about our house
simply by referring to it as a "Hobbit House". He (nor you for that
matter) never actually saw the house we lived in before, an eclectic
adobe built by an old hippy friend in the 60s while he was probably on
Acid or Peyote or Datura or maybe just bad black light posters. Hobbit
all the way. It was very wonderfully organic. We watched Los Alamos
burn 11 years ago from a straw bale sleeping cabana just outside of it.
And here we are again.
I was specifically trying to lubricate Doug, entice Peter and tease Nick
and Stephen (since they were out of state) with the invite but as always
it is great to have you at our impromptu soirees. I didn't actually
expect anyone on-list to make it, we were glad you did. We are, in
fact, both a wave and a particle. And so are we.
Meanwhile, the project alluded to begins by retrieving (from Palo Alto)
5 sheets of 3/4" thick 10' x 10' glass designed to be the screens for a
virtual reality theater in Los Alamos. The original system using these
was on it's way to Los Alamos when the Cerro Grande fire started. I got
word that the replacement/backup (these were custom made, floated on a
pool of mercury or something) screens needed a new home and I could have
them just as Las Conchas was bearing down on Los Alamos. Deja Vu!
I'll tell more about the actual use of this glass when the project
shapes up. For the moment it is just an exercise in lifting heavy
things... carefully. If we drop them... square marbles everywhere. If
you know anyone with an extra hundred grand who wants to create their
own realities, send them my way. I may have a deal for them!
I am prone to manic soliloquys here as a way to avoid (temporarily)
dealing with my latest deadline... I'm sure they have drugs (Thorazine
comes to mind) and procedures (a sharp spoon under the eyelid comes to
mind) to treat these symptoms but I prefer Bourbon or Gin and the polite
forbearance of friends and strangers such as I enjoy on this list.
If I manage to make 3000lbs of square marbles, I promise to send
pictures! Heck think of the art projects you could do with that many
3/4" cubes of glass!
- Steve
And a grand bottle it was, too. Now there's a tangent, a great bottle
of Bourbon.
Thanks, Sas, for the excellent summer get-together! Wonderful
conversations at our table about art, science, observation, cognitive
processing, perception, awareness, ooooh, all the big ones.
Consciousness. Be still my heart. Someone tell the discuss list.
Have another shindig: we'll all bring more food.
You two have the best house in the world....the walls are made of
books and there's no clear inside and outside to the place, just
activity. Perhaps this is physics in actuality, rather than theory.
Have a great drive. I for one am verrrry curious about your
transmutational optics project. ??
Catch ya later-
Tory
On Jul 5, 2011, at 7:11 PM, Steve Smith wrote:
Doug -
You're one of my favorites here, sas. We can always count on you
for a good stream of consciousness.
Thanks, It's about all I have left after I used everything else up
trying to be a scientist. I intend to spend the rest of my life
honing my richochets into proper non-sequitors. You missed the
bottle of Boulliete Rye Saturday. And some new characters at the
funny farm. And the moon is made of green cheese. And I'm about to
drive two days straight each way to (probably) turn 3000lbs of
carefully constructed optical components into an equal mass of square
marbles. I need all the distraction I can get. Segue. Careen. Tangent.
- Steve
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
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============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
