blackest black tie

A cadaverous cocktail party set in the severed vein of gothic horror. We'll wake the dead and warm the crypt-like cold of my new haunts, 14 Liberty Avenue. Poe-like potables, Lovecraftian liquors, as well as victimized victuals - by the time we leave, many of our braincells will have joined the hordes of the undead. Come hungry for brains, or appetizers if so inclined. We will start early and likely shamble off elsewhere in search of warm flesh.

-LA

Today I had to pick up a woman at the train station. As I arrived I saw that she had a shock of purple hair, matching stockings, which all seemed to fit with what I already knew her email address to be: mistressx69. Turns out her boyfriend, having spent a significant time in HP Lovecraft's home state of Rhode Island, designs and builds small sculptures of Cthulu (he is presently working on a red one that lights up - his "lava Cthulu"). I wish I could have a few cocktails and a conversation with that couple.

The Vineyard

I've been back in the Republic for a week now and I'm starting to get the shakes. I need to get my creative juices flowing again, or at least get drunk and throw high powered explosives at the neighbors. Thankfully there's a state sanctioned holiday coming up for said purposes. Perhaps not the neighbors - but I'm sure I can find some police cruisers to shoot bottle rockets at.
I'll just drop my R's off in Boston and go to the Vineyard acting like a Kennedy.

How fitting that I began this at the incipient period of Spring. Admittedly, my first was shortly after Thanksgiving; However, I'm pretty sure this was just my recognition of the onrushing s.a.d. doldrums - as well as an implicit personal promise for eventual renewal. In any event, spring is here so no more doomsday talk.

Beware the Ides of March

Today is the ides of March, a festival day for honoring the God, Mars. Also, on this day in 44 b.c., Caesar was assassinated after failing to heed the prognostications of a soothsayer. Or at least that's what Shakespeare wanted us to think. I will be leaving for Jamaica in less than 30 hours. Hopefully I will avoid both the knives which did in the great dictator perpetuo, as well as the overindulgence of lascivious wassails which did in his headstrong scion, Marc Antony.

Jon gives you cancer

Celestial Webcams

"LSST is truly an Internet telescope, which will put terabytes of data each night into the hands of anyone that wants to explore it. The 8.4-metre LSST telescope and the 3-gigapixel camera are thus a shared resource for all humanity — the ultimate network peripheral device to explore the universe."

Bill Gates -Microsoft co-founder.

Between this and the soon to be launched Kepler orbital telescope we're sure to find all those puny aliens out there, wallowing in their pre-modern technologies. Also, I'm glad to see that Micro$oft is putting their earnings to good use (with Paul Allen responsible for the neccesary funding for a 350 antenna telescope array at the Hat Creek Radio Observatory in California).

Hurtling throught the universe

I like the transition from the contented "ahhh." to "AHHHH!!!"

"The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking... The solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had, known, I should have become a watchmaker."
-Albert Einstein

Well...

All Friday nights have to end at some point.

Go to...
The Peninsula, Hong Kong. The finest Hotel East of the Suez.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OHhqDLFf2Y

The singularity is near...

I've been reading "The Singularity is Near" by Raymond Kurzweil, which is a largely speculative work that takes a look at the changes potential future technologies could have on human society. It's all very utopian (rather than dystopian) and especially refreshing among the many gloomy predictions out there today.

On page 357 he tries to solve the Fermi paradox. I'd explain it, but it's probably better to go to the wiki article (and spread misinformation!). Anyway once you've read that... his conclusion is that:
"it is likely (although not certain) that there are no such other [intelligent] civilizations. In other words, we are in the lead. That's right, our humble civilization with its pickup trucks, fast food, and persistent conflicts (and computation!) is in the lead in terms of the creation of complexity and order in the universe."
Which is all very life affirming. In any event, Happy Ash Wednesday - I hope you had a good Carnival (which comes from the Latin phrase for "the removal of meat").