Blink

Watch John McCain sometime. I know, I know, it's painful, but watch one of his speeches, and watch his blink rate. It's incredible: he beats Bush on a blatantly lying day by a beat rate of two to one! I don't like to assume that just because someone is blinking like crazy that they are saying something that they don't believe --- after all, perhaps he is just so old that his tearducts have dried up, or something, but....

Yours, wondering if he's on the blink,
N.

Voting

A day of local/statewide primary elections today.
And being that we live in a one-party state (nearly) LOML and I both had to as for (gasp) Republican party ballots (there was one race on the D ballot, and four on the R ballot, including three where we had strong preferences one way or another).
As I approached the sign-in desk, and had to ask for a R ballot, the woman in front of me expressed essentially the same feeling: at which point the woman running the show said "Yes, we've heard the same sentiment from a lot of people today".

At the moment it looks like two of the three races where we have a strong preference have gone sour. Oh well.

Yours, flying false colours,
N.

Congratulations to MrsM

Congratulations to MrsM, who celebrated her blogiversaire just a couple of days ago by getting offered a new (and hopefully even better) job!

And, I'm glad to say, she didn't decide to stop blogging!

Yours, passing on the celebration meme,
N.

New books

I'm now the proud owner of a bunch more origami books: Dover Press publishes a bunch of reasonably priced, relatively cheaply printed books: among them a good number of origami texts: and I've just taken possession of a slew of them.
Enough, it seems, that at one new fold a day I'm busy until the end of the year. And a few months after that too.

The first to be folded, a Montroll pelican. A lovely, intermediate fold.

Yours, getting set to fold,
N.

I suspect

I suspect that the first second is the hardest. Learning to trust that you are not going to fall over. Once you get past that, the second second must come easier, and after a few seconds, it's just a case of keeping it going.

Boo has just transcended the first second, perhaps two. This evening we went out to the nearby dentist's parking lot (where there is lots of shade!) and despite the heat, LOML and I took turns running along holding her upright on her bicycle, and letting go when she felt stable. And by the end of twenty minutes (which is all we could take: it is not just hot here right now, it is hot!) she had managed lots of times to ride for a full few milliseconds. And then on the way home, while Skibo and I went on ahead, LOML helped her on the sidewalk --- just outside our house, I heard LOML calling me from behind: "She's got it!" And sure enough, she's got it! The first second! Now the seconds will come easier, and before we know it, we are going to be terrified about her on the roads every second of the day!

Yours, on balance,
N.

Differences

People often ask me what the difference is between the UK and the US. Rarely can I cite an example quite as clear as this judicially ordered courtroom spanking: I am especially disturbed by the comments from the readers.

Yours, sickened,
N.

The speech we've been waiting for

Hillary Clinton gave a great speech today: I felt that she has taken great steps towards unifying the party behind Obama, and did much to make up for McCauliffe's "next President" remarks in introducing her on Tuesday evening.
It is clear now that she will work as hard as is necessary for his election, that she realises her future is better with her going all out to help him rather than standing back and hoping that he falls.
Good. It's time to get the national focus on the differences in policy and person between Obama and McCain. On to the general election.
Mind you, hearing the press continually harping about how "compressed" the schedule is --- we have about 150 days to go -- is amazing: how other countries can run an election in just a few weeks the press here will never know!

Yours, relieved, but not too surprised,
N.

Firsts

The problem with having children of different ages is that they do things for the first time at different times. And almost always, it is the older who does something first: even if the second child does it at a younger age, it is hard to remember that.

Boo had decided recently that she wants to ride her bicycle without her training wheels: so this morning we took the wheels of and LOML ran behind her holding the saddle, over and over again.

Mind you, I think on this score we might remember that Skibo rides without training wheels younger: he looked almost ready today --- and LOML ran up and down behind him too. It won't be long, I think.

Yours, unready for life without training wheels,
N.

Software

I'm fuming at the moment: at a piece of software that I use on a regular basis in my work: they've changed their interfaces over the years, and had been thoughtful enough in the past to keep the old interface around for people like me: the old interface is less glitzy, but far more powerful than the new interface. However, when I installed the latest version on my 64 bit machine, I discovered that they have decided not to support the old interface on top level hardware.

So that had me fuming, and writing nast-e-mails to the software company.

Then (after more glitches over a week or two) I spent some time working last night, discovering bit after bit of useful information related to some stuff I've been doing: getting more and more excited about some interesting details that turned up, until, two hours later I realised that what I was seeing was impossible.

And so now I'm putting in bug reports (on a part of the software which was probably written twenty years ago -- fortunately I know the person who probably wrote that part of the code, so I have sent a bug report in that direction!) rather than working on something exciting. It's a very serious bug, albeit one that appears not to have appeared in the past twenty years --- I wonder how much it has happened and caused errors in people's research!


Yours, putting a bug in the company's ear,
N.

If John McCain has any sense

If Senator McCain has any sense, he'll green-screen again. This may look like he's being picked on by Colbert, but it is probably the biggest gift he could be given. All he needs to do is pick up the gauntlet and run with it himself: produce a green-screening of his own speech, and make it a theme for all of his future speeches. It could even make him look media savvy! And I don't mean those new-fangled "technicolor" moving picture shows that he thinks I mean, either.

Yours, screening for your pleasure,
N.

Fist bumping

Our friend L has a gesture we love: when Boo has done something good, L will bump fists with her and say "Rock on, sister!" It's a lovely gesture of solidarity, an emphasis on strong women, and her passing that on to Boo makes us love L all the better:-)
So we got chills watching Obama's speech, or more precisely his interaction with Michelle Obama right before his speech on Tuesday: he gave her the rock-on sister bump.
Infinitely more inspiring to see than the John McCain "I can speak slowly through lime green jello" speech earlier in the evening.

Yours, bumping up,
N.

Thoughts on the primary

I've tried, and I suspect, failed, to try to remain respectful of both candidates over the past few weeks of the primary process. I was particularly disappointed, as I may have mentioned on Tuesday, with Hillary Clinton's speech that night -- as I was with her being introduced as "the next president of the USA" at a point at which this was a ridiculous statement to make.
But that is over. Now the former rivals are meeting (having surprised the press, keeping word of the meeting quiet): and I have to say that in the two days since the final primaries, Hillary has been more impressive. I hope that she will be able to persuade her supporters to turn to backing Obama: whether he chooses to place her on the ticket, in the cabinet, or to rely on her in the Senate (certainly to shepherd through the healthcare legislation he's promised) she is going to play a leading role in America's political future -- and I think that that role is brighter if he wins the election than if he loses it. As is the future of the country.

Yours, looking for a brighter future,
N.

Second thoughts

We're beset with second thoughts right now.... especially about the children, and moving them from Montessori to the public system. Granted, it will save us on the order of ten thousand dollars a year in fees: and granted, we are big believers in supporting public education: but we're worrying whether it is going to work.

Boo is not helping -- not that that is her role here -- by being sad to the point of tearful at the thought of leaving her current school, of not seeing her teacher again (though LOML and I think we may invite her over to dinner at some point). Until a few weeks ago, Boo had been excited at the prospect of going to the local school: and it may well work out wonderfully: but her newfound resistance is going to make it harder.

Yours, hopeful still, but nervous,
N.

From the winner's platform

It must be easier as the winner to extend a word of praise to the loser. And I thought that that was borne out this evening by Barack Obama's praise, fulsome and deserved of Hillary Clinton: he was generous to a fault. Her speech, on the other hand, when it is clear that he has won, was short of recognition of that fact: had I not known that she had lost the nomination, I might have taken it for a victory speech.
And her words of him? They were few. Kind, perhaps, sort of, but few.

I think that she bought herself not being offered the VP slot this evening.

Yours, politely,
N.

I almost posted earlier, but it wasn't clear. And now it is.
I thought that Obama would want South Dakota's delegates to put him over the edge, just in case the race there didn't go his way -- as the only recent poll has strongly suggested it might -- and that way, he denies the Hillary story it would provide.

I cancelled the post about twenty minutes ago, and at 9, the anchors broke into John McCain's "speech" to announce that finally Obama has won the nomination.

Yours, finally,
N.

The race

It appears that in a few minutes --- or an hour or two at most --- the race for the Democratic Party's nomination for president will be over. As in really over. Unless something changes in the next couple of months.

And as our friend E said today (and she's an ardent feminist, professor, head of women's studies...) it would be truly wonderful to have a woman candidate. But she's willing to wait for the one who won't pander, for the one she can believe in.

Truth be told, I think that both Clinton and Obama are guilty of some serious pandering this election season: I think Clinton's has been worse, and of course, neither hold a candle to the true Pander Bear, Senator McCain. But they have all done it.

At least now the campaign can really start: and the focus can be on which of two extremely different plans are better for the country: facing environmental catastrophe scientifically mindset or an ideological mindset: a continuation of Bush-style appointments to the supreme court, or a return to reality: tax cuts for the uber-wealthy, or sharing the cost of providing services for the country: understanding that our place in the world is as one of many, or trying to push the rest of the world around: etc.


Yours, ready for round two,
N.

An early morning Boo-ism

Boo came into our bedroom this morning, relatively early (i.e. she woke up herself, rather than needing to be awakened! and it was a school day!) and said "Mummy, Daddy, do you know what I dreamed?"
We denied all knowledge.
"I dreamt that Miss G was playing 'Make and break harbour' on her radio at school".
I explained that I didn't think that Miss G would know that song, and asked if perhaps she'd like to sing it to her: Boo replied that she didn't know it well enough.
So I suggested we lie there and sing it together: we did: it was a beautiful moment, absolutely gorgeous.


Now, I've been singing her the classic Stan Rogers' lament about the end of the fishing industry in the Maritimes as a bedtime song for months now --- she first requested it after I'd gone round the house singing it for a while: it's a beautiful song, so sad, yet at the same time, full of the hope one can find in the most desperate surroundings. And since she first requested it, our bedtime ritual has included the following:
Me: "Who would like a song or a poem?"
Skibo: "I want what Boo wants"
Boo: "Copycat. I want Railroad cat (TS Eliot), Train Whistle Blowing (aka Morningtown Ride), Monsieur le President (aka Le Deserteur) and Make and Break Harbour"
Within the year, I expect to be doing a full length concert for them each night:-)

Yours, sung out, out loud, and loving every minute of it,
N.

Facebook to facebook

I still don't understand facebook. I don't really see what advantages it has over blogging: and I see a bunch of disadvantages. But I have taken a few more facebook-y steps in the past couple of days.
My cousin friend-ed me on facebook on the weekend, and of course I confirmed her to my circle of friends: this reminded me that I was a member of facebook (don't ask why: there is a not-great, and prosaic reason). I hadn't logged on in at least many months.

But since I had logged on, I looked to see what some people I knew were doing: one, it turned out, had gone to study at Oxford for a year, which was surprising and interesting, and gave me the impetus to email her and find out how things had gone.
Today I found myself being friended again by some new people. When will it end? Probably when I don't get facebook still, and hence don't interact with it!

Yours, faceless,
N.

Acting the part of a student today

Geek alert. Geek alert. (Obligatory disclaimer: no chickens were harmed in the production of this geek post).

This afternoon I went to a class on using linux: I went mainly because the class is essentially a prerequisite to the next course: on using a rather moderately sized cluster of machines designed to work in parallel: and I want to supervise some work on that cluster --- so I decided to attend all the courses so that I am well informed.

It reminds me of what it is like to be a student: and especially, what it is like to be a student in a class in which you know most of the material. Or in today's case, all of the material: I wanted to jump up and volunteer to help teach the class: but I stayed put and stayed quiet. There'll be time to help out later if it gets harder: and I can give some of the other students help tomorrow morning if they need help keeping up. And since they are already working with/for me, it makes it easier for me to jump in...

Yours, in geekiness,
N.

Soaking the corn

In response to Alice's question below: why do I soak the corn before cooking it?
I like to cook over high heat: and if I put corn (in the husks) directly onto the grill, the husks would burn up immediately. However, if I soak the corn for a little while, half an hour or so, the husks absorb some of the water, and they are slower to burn.
I usually grill the ears until the outer husks are completely charred, and the inner husks are charred enough that the kernels have just picked up a little hint of charring.
In addition, the water held by the husks has the effect of steaming the kernels inside as well, so they get a combination of a grilled and steamed flavour. I have also seen suggestions that putting a knob of butter inside the husk works well too --- but I prefer to rub the butter onto the husk after the grilling is over.


Yours, huskily,
N.