MindCam

12 November, 2004 The silence has been long, but the mind has nonetheless been busy. I've decided to start adding to these rambling thoughts again. Here's one to start, overheard as an instruction by a mom to her very young son in the Jardin Luxemburg, Paris: "Ne meprise pas les gens seulement parce-que ils aiment les pigeons!" ("Don't despise people just because they like pigeons!." ) Another notable quote, seen in the form of bathroom graffiti at Jimmy's Woodlawn Tap in Hyde park -- "Time is nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once"-- turns out to be not entirely original, but instead represents a succinct restatement, or perhaps independent rediscovery, of the basic philosophy of Henri Bergson. My familiarity with Bergson's view of time was awakened by the discussion in Ilya Prigogine's writings on time's arrow, found in "The End of Certainty," (which I know from the French edition, "La Fin des Certitudes") There's no indication, though, that Prigogine was aware of Jimmy's.

27 June, 2000 "You're trying to pound in a thumbtack with a sledgehammer-- Use your head!" (Unknown Harvard math T.A.)

12 December, 1999 My favorite new Christmas music I have come across this season:

• Home for Christmas, sung by Anne Sofie von Otter. Deutche Grammophon. Christmas songs by the reknowned Swedish mezzo-soprano. This disk includes a mix of Swedish holiday classics ("Sankta Lucia"), American standards ("White Christmas") and songs for the season in German and French as well. There is a nice mix of old traditional carols, such as "Stille Nacht" and contemporary pieces. The songs exercise a wide variety of von Otter's singing styles, from the outright operatic, to Swedish folk, to American pop. Her attempts at an American pop style on White Christmas and Christmas Song are touching, though not entirely successful. Of course, her voice is superb in the operatic style. It is also absolutely outstanding in the Swedish folk style, with that curious far-Northern catch and lilt that almost borders on yodeling. The modern Swedish carol, "Koppången" is beautiful beyond belief.
• A Dave Brubeck Christmas. Telarc Jazz. Solo piano by the jazz genius. This is very touching and warm music. Brubeck's usual compositions are somewhat on the cold and analytical side, harking back to the cool jazz of the 50's, but this album is a real surprise. Some of the pieces start out as the kind of parlor piano that you might play for your own family (if you could play like Brubeck!) but then shade surprisingly and smoothly into Brubeck's own distinctive jazz idiom. Others have hints of Jelly Roll Morton in them. These are all chestnut classics: "Jingle Bells, " Joy to the World," etc., but played in a way like you've never heard before.
• Joko Joulun alkaa saa, Sari and Mari Kaasinen. MIPUCD. Finnish Christmas music by the founder of the Finnish folk group "Värttinnä," and her sister Mari. Both sing, and Mari plays two-row accordion. The title means "Is it Christmas time yet?" The songs are almost all original compositions. You won't find any trite holiday classics here. The singing is pure and lovely, with the "white" almost Bulgarian voice quality that made Värttinnä famous. If you like the early Värttinnä, you'll love this disk. I find the more recent Värttinnä rather noisy and unpleasant to listen to, and I hope someday they rediscover their real musical roots. The songs on this disk embody in a pure form what made Värttinnä so nice to listen to, in the days right after Sari re-invented them. The songs here are much more tender, and less boisterous, than the Värttinnä lyrics, though. I do not know if this disk is available in the US. It can be obtained by mail order from Digelius Music in Helsinki.

November 1999 For a bleak spin on global warming (and some impressive pictures of melting tropical glaciers) check out my Millennium essay. This is a future that is not inevitable, and indeed I can think of ways we could make it through the next 100 years that could lead us along a definitely brighter path. Now is the time to start, though.

12 October 1999 Take a look at the movie, "Genghis Blues" if the opportunity presents itself. It is about a West Coast blues singer who hears Tuvan throat singing on shortwave radio, manages to teach it to himself, and then goes off to Tana Tuva where he wins the Kargyra division of the annual throat-singing competition. Check out the cameo appearance of Richard " Tuva or Bust" Feynman.

8 June, 1999

Linear systems are all alike. Each nonlinear system is nonlinear in its own way. For details, see L. Tolstoy, Anna Karenina