Nothing Is Perfect

2008 PMC Dolbens

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:05:26 -0500

2008 Pan-Mass Challenge Dolbens: Martha, Don, Deane, Hank, and Drew.

Declaration

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 20:00:00 -0500

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed

I am a Strange Loop

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 20:28:02 -0500

Returning yet again to the big question, you know—life, the universe, and everything—here's one of our old favorites, Douglas Hofstadter, weighing in on the soul and what I like to call life after death. It's a little scary how nearly congruent his construct is to mine. Heck, forget nearly. They're identical. Of course, his makes much better reading.

5th Anniversary

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:54:11 -0500

Today marks five years since the inception of Nothing Is Perfect.

The Unobservable Universe

Sat, 24 May 2008 09:42:38 -0500

In a Scientific American article Sean Carroll offers an explanation of what many consider a cosmological puzzle: the existence of time's arrow apparent in the Universe. While appealing, it can never be a theory, as it depends on a larger, unobservable universe in which this little one we call home is embedded, having arisen from a random fluctuation of dark energy (itself still hypothetical). But as metaphysics it jibes quite well with my own cosmogony and the notion that anything exists because nothing is perfect. Nevertheless, it leaves the greater universe worse than unobservable, unexplained. You can pull a rabbit out of a hat, but where did you get the hat?

2008 Pan-Mass Challenge

Sun, 11 May 2008 08:53:51 -0500

For the ninth straight year I'll be riding in the Pan-Mass Challenge which, through the Jimmy Fund, raises money to support research and treatment at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. For more information you might look at this year's fact sheet (PDF).

You can contribute online if you'd like to support my effort.

People Will Say We're in Love

Sat, 10 May 2008 08:50:03 -0500

Generally it's silly to recommend music. Just think of how much there is that you can't stand and yet that millions of other people love. You know because sometimes they think it's so wonderful that they play it outdoors, loudly enough that you'd have to evacuate the area to avoid listening to it. Anyway, if you like jazz renditions of old standbys you must hear Sophie Milman's recording of the Rodgers and Hammerstein tune from Oklahoma! People Will Say We're in Love. It's perfect. Well, almost.

AP News on iPhone

Mon, 05 May 2008 21:28:23 -0500

The design of the new Associated Press web app raises the bar for iPhone customized sites several notches.

Blog Revived

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 10:35:02 -0500

Thanks to Tildemark this blog is revived.

Military Games

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:31:27 -0500

Bobby Fischer's death brings to mind my experience during his famous match against Boris Spassky in the summer of 1972. About a year and a half out of active service I had been called up for reserves' training at Fort Drum in New York. Due to the kind-hearted efforts of an alcoholic staff sergeant in the personnel section of my infantry battalion on the DMZ in Korea, my MOS had been changed from grunt to clerk with the result that instead of humping the boonies that summer I had a ridiculously cushy job in camp HQ. Every day, about a dozen of us were responsible for tallying the roll call results for the day and creating a report. That took less than an hour with, in those days, paper, pencil, and typewriter first thing in the morning, leaving us free to do whatever we wanted for the rest of the day in our well ventilated though not air-conditioned office.

We'd get a copy of the New York Times and study the previous day's play in the Fischer-Spassky match, going through all the moves and discussing their meaning. Then we'd read and play chess against each other until quitting time. Bobby was our hero.

Jefferson's Rhetoric

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 13:04:20 -0500

The national archives' website has a wonderful analysis of the rhetorical style of the Declaration of Independence.

The Tour of America

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 08:15:26 -0500

What are the chances that the Tour of America will be run this year? Many would say slim to none. And, if it is, which pro teams will be entered, given the conflict with la Vuelta a España?