Comments on: The Tea Tastes Awful, So I Must Be In… http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/08/02/the-tea-tastes-awful-so-i-must-be-in/ Random samplings from a universe of ideas. Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:29:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 By: The Tea Tastes Great, So I Must Be In… | Cosmic Variance http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/08/02/the-tea-tastes-awful-so-i-must-be-in/#comment-948 The Tea Tastes Great, So I Must Be In… | Cosmic Variance Thu, 18 May 2006 05:26:13 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/08/02/the-tea-tastes-awful-so-i-must-be-in/#comment-948 [...] Ahhh….London. All of a sudden, here I am in South London. It is early in the morning, and everyone is still asleep. I’m sitting here with an excellent cup of tea (title of this posst refers to this other post) and a plate of Jacob’s cream crackers (since I’m desperately hungry and it was the only thing I could find without disturbing my host’s kitchen cupboards) and looking at lovely cloud patterns through the window, and some beautiful shafts of morning sunlight from time to time. And I’m listening to the birds…. and some seriously loud snoring from upstairs. [...] […] Ahhh….London. All of a sudden, here I am in South London. It is early in the morning, and everyone is still asleep. I’m sitting here with an excellent cup of tea (title of this posst refers to this other post) and a plate of Jacob’s cream crackers (since I’m desperately hungry and it was the only thing I could find without disturbing my host’s kitchen cupboards) and looking at lovely cloud patterns through the window, and some beautiful shafts of morning sunlight from time to time. And I’m listening to the birds…. and some seriously loud snoring from upstairs. […]

]]> By: Angelic Grad School Interview | Cosmic Variance http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/08/02/the-tea-tastes-awful-so-i-must-be-in/#comment-947 Angelic Grad School Interview | Cosmic Variance Tue, 18 Apr 2006 17:34:31 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/08/02/the-tea-tastes-awful-so-i-must-be-in/#comment-947 [...] (3) (Ok. Three things of note.) He seems to have forgotten what must have been the weirdest thing of all. As we were walking along wheeling my bike (the ever-wonderful Brompton) two British visitors cycled by and one of them was riding a Brompton. Of course, they shouted out, pulled over and we chatted for a while, and together shook our heads in lamentation of the lack of other such bikes in the region, etc. They were on a conference visit, and had popped their folders into a suitcase and flown over, just as I described in an earlier post. They were then able to appreciate LA properly by cycling around. Needless to say, I was over the moon about this, and enthused about it for a while. [...] […] (3) (Ok. Three things of note.) He seems to have forgotten what must have been the weirdest thing of all. As we were walking along wheeling my bike (the ever-wonderful Brompton) two British visitors cycled by and one of them was riding a Brompton. Of course, they shouted out, pulled over and we chatted for a while, and together shook our heads in lamentation of the lack of other such bikes in the region, etc. They were on a conference visit, and had popped their folders into a suitcase and flown over, just as I described in an earlier post. They were then able to appreciate LA properly by cycling around. Needless to say, I was over the moon about this, and enthused about it for a while. […]

]]> By: The Singing Engineers | Cosmic Variance http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/08/02/the-tea-tastes-awful-so-i-must-be-in/#comment-946 The Singing Engineers | Cosmic Variance Sat, 25 Feb 2006 09:24:47 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/08/02/the-tea-tastes-awful-so-i-must-be-in/#comment-946 [...] After an extraordinarily exhausting week, Friday evening came and I jumped on the Brompton and cycled up Figueroa the 37 blocks to the heart of downtown, where you can find the music centre, and the wonderful Disney Hall. My errand was to somehow obtain tickets for an extremely popular concert. The box office, once I got there, had only a few returned ones, at $120 and $90 each. I could not bring myself to pay that much without exploring other avenues (I’ve several expenditures to worry about) and so I thought I would wait in case anyone turned in orchestra seats (those are more like $35), or to see if the price would drop nearer the concert start, or (my main hope) to see if someone showed up with an extra ticket (maybe a friend could not make it) and would just sell it to me right there near the box office. So I stood there for an hour, watching the world go by, most of it looking curiously at my bike in half-fold position. It dawned on me at some point that I’d no really reliable way of discovering who might have tickets to sell or not. This became especially clear after a group of people who came well after me and were hanging around managed to get a ticket in this manner. So after a while I began to learn who had “the look” of maybe having a ticket to sell, and with about ten minutes to go before the concert (and after a long conversation about the bike which made me miss at least one more sale) I managed to negotiate an $82 ticket down to $50 (I could have done better, but it seemed fair), folded up and popped my bike off in the coat check area and emerged for an evening of a bit of relaxing to some Mozart. [...] […] After an extraordinarily exhausting week, Friday evening came and I jumped on the Brompton and cycled up Figueroa the 37 blocks to the heart of downtown, where you can find the music centre, and the wonderful Disney Hall. My errand was to somehow obtain tickets for an extremely popular concert. The box office, once I got there, had only a few returned ones, at $120 and $90 each. I could not bring myself to pay that much without exploring other avenues (I’ve several expenditures to worry about) and so I thought I would wait in case anyone turned in orchestra seats (those are more like $35), or to see if the price would drop nearer the concert start, or (my main hope) to see if someone showed up with an extra ticket (maybe a friend could not make it) and would just sell it to me right there near the box office. So I stood there for an hour, watching the world go by, most of it looking curiously at my bike in half-fold position. It dawned on me at some point that I’d no really reliable way of discovering who might have tickets to sell or not. This became especially clear after a group of people who came well after me and were hanging around managed to get a ticket in this manner. So after a while I began to learn who had “the look” of maybe having a ticket to sell, and with about ten minutes to go before the concert (and after a long conversation about the bike which made me miss at least one more sale) I managed to negotiate an $82 ticket down to $50 (I could have done better, but it seemed fair), folded up and popped my bike off in the coat check area and emerged for an evening of a bit of relaxing to some Mozart. […]

]]> By: Commuting, I | Cosmic Variance http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/08/02/the-tea-tastes-awful-so-i-must-be-in/#comment-945 Commuting, I | Cosmic Variance Wed, 30 Nov 2005 06:26:58 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/08/02/the-tea-tastes-awful-so-i-must-be-in/#comment-945 [...] So I’ve spoken here about my frustrations about the myths about Los Angeles, and the fact that so much is missed by many because they’re in their cars. In particular I’ve spoken about public transport (such as the fact that it exists but almost nobody uses it), and I’ve spoken about walking, and cycling. But it must seem all so abstract. So in a fit of frustration at not being able to bring you all along with me and just show you, I decided the day after I did this post that I’d take you with me on one of those mornings when I decide on the way to the bus stop that I’m not going to stop for the bus….. I’m going to go all the way to work on the bike. Yes….the cute little Brompton that everyone living in a city should have to displace their car activity. (I dream, I know.) (See for example here, and here.) [...] […] So I’ve spoken here about my frustrations about the myths about Los Angeles, and the fact that so much is missed by many because they’re in their cars. In particular I’ve spoken about public transport (such as the fact that it exists but almost nobody uses it), and I’ve spoken about walking, and cycling. But it must seem all so abstract. So in a fit of frustration at not being able to bring you all along with me and just show you, I decided the day after I did this post that I’d take you with me on one of those mornings when I decide on the way to the bus stop that I’m not going to stop for the bus….. I’m going to go all the way to work on the bike. Yes….the cute little Brompton that everyone living in a city should have to displace their car activity. (I dream, I know.) (See for example here, and here.) […]

]]> By: Perhaps It Has Begun! | Cosmic Variance http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/08/02/the-tea-tastes-awful-so-i-must-be-in/#comment-944 Perhaps It Has Begun! | Cosmic Variance Wed, 21 Sep 2005 21:18:47 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/08/02/the-tea-tastes-awful-so-i-must-be-in/#comment-944 [...] Yesterday, while on foot to a lunch meeting on campus, guess what I saw…. Another Brompton! You’ve no idea how exciting that is. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, and you most likely don’t, see my earlier posts here, and here.) Sure, it’s nice to be maybe the only bike of its sort in the city, and while tiring to have to explain what it is all the time, sure, it’s nice to get the rounds of applause and requests for autographs every time I fold or unfold it in public. But frankly, I really prefer the thought that people are waking up to the idea that this is the way to go. Cycling more, and using public transport in combination with that. As I’ve said before on this blog, LA is an ideal city for cycling (mostly flat, perfect weather most of the time) and the best way to take advantage of the bus, rail and subway system (sigh…yes, they exist, but there are gaps) is to connect them up with a bike. And a folding bike is ideal. A beautifully engineered, comfortable, and compact, really fast folding one is even more ideal. [...] […] Yesterday, while on foot to a lunch meeting on campus, guess what I saw…. Another Brompton! You’ve no idea how exciting that is. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, and you most likely don’t, see my earlier posts here, and here.) Sure, it’s nice to be maybe the only bike of its sort in the city, and while tiring to have to explain what it is all the time, sure, it’s nice to get the rounds of applause and requests for autographs every time I fold or unfold it in public. But frankly, I really prefer the thought that people are waking up to the idea that this is the way to go. Cycling more, and using public transport in combination with that. As I’ve said before on this blog, LA is an ideal city for cycling (mostly flat, perfect weather most of the time) and the best way to take advantage of the bus, rail and subway system (sigh…yes, they exist, but there are gaps) is to connect them up with a bike. And a folding bike is ideal. A beautifully engineered, comfortable, and compact, really fast folding one is even more ideal. […]

]]> By: Folding Money | Cosmic Variance http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/08/02/the-tea-tastes-awful-so-i-must-be-in/#comment-943 Folding Money | Cosmic Variance Wed, 10 Aug 2005 05:20:24 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/08/02/the-tea-tastes-awful-so-i-must-be-in/#comment-943 [...] You may recall me mentioning that bike I commute with? The one I folded up in 10 seconds and popped into a suitcase and brought on the plane with me to Aspen, and that I think is so wonderful? The Brompton? Well, there was a nice article in the Observer about its inventor this Sunday. It’s a very well known type of story: The obsessive and eccentric British inventor, unable to sell his wonderful design and idea. Gets his friends and family to fund his tinkerings with the prototype in the bedroom….We’ve all been there! [...] […] You may recall me mentioning that bike I commute with? The one I folded up in 10 seconds and popped into a suitcase and brought on the plane with me to Aspen, and that I think is so wonderful? The Brompton? Well, there was a nice article in the Observer about its inventor this Sunday. It’s a very well known type of story: The obsessive and eccentric British inventor, unable to sell his wonderful design and idea. Gets his friends and family to fund his tinkerings with the prototype in the bedroom….We’ve all been there! […]

]]> By: Aspen Report: New Strides on the Road to a Quantum Computer | Cosmic Variance http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/08/02/the-tea-tastes-awful-so-i-must-be-in/#comment-942 Aspen Report: New Strides on the Road to a Quantum Computer | Cosmic Variance Fri, 05 Aug 2005 02:43:22 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/08/02/the-tea-tastes-awful-so-i-must-be-in/#comment-942 [...] Just got my beautiful Brompton wet in a sudden downpour on the way home. Yes, I dried it off, and now I’m sitting here with a cup of warm wet-chalkdust-tasting tea listening to the rain and waiting for last night’s chicken pilaf to warm up. It’s always even better the day after I make it! (Some of the things mentioned above will mean nothing to you if you did not read this earlier post.) [...] […] Just got my beautiful Brompton wet in a sudden downpour on the way home. Yes, I dried it off, and now I’m sitting here with a cup of warm wet-chalkdust-tasting tea listening to the rain and waiting for last night’s chicken pilaf to warm up. It’s always even better the day after I make it! (Some of the things mentioned above will mean nothing to you if you did not read this earlier post.) […]

]]> By: SuperCosmologists Think Out of the Box | Cosmic Variance http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/08/02/the-tea-tastes-awful-so-i-must-be-in/#comment-941 SuperCosmologists Think Out of the Box | Cosmic Variance Wed, 03 Aug 2005 06:14:33 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/08/02/the-tea-tastes-awful-so-i-must-be-in/#comment-941 [...] So what’s with the title? Well, it riffs on a joke I inadvertently made in an earlier post. The kind of cosmology being discussed here focuses on models that try to build our universe by starting outside of it, in some sense. The thing we usually think of as the universe is embedded within the larger dynamics of string theory or M-theory that is “outside the box” that is the universe we normally think about. [...] […] So what’s with the title? Well, it riffs on a joke I inadvertently made in an earlier post. The kind of cosmology being discussed here focuses on models that try to build our universe by starting outside of it, in some sense. The thing we usually think of as the universe is embedded within the larger dynamics of string theory or M-theory that is “outside the box” that is the universe we normally think about. […]

]]> By: Mark http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/08/02/the-tea-tastes-awful-so-i-must-be-in/#comment-940 Mark Tue, 02 Aug 2005 19:51:34 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/08/02/the-tea-tastes-awful-so-i-must-be-in/#comment-940 OK, fair enough. We'll call such devices "Clifford Machines" from now on. Have fun in Aspen. OK, fair enough. We’ll call such devices “Clifford Machines” from now on. Have fun in Aspen.

]]> By: Clifford http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/08/02/the-tea-tastes-awful-so-i-must-be-in/#comment-939 Clifford Tue, 02 Aug 2005 19:28:10 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/08/02/the-tea-tastes-awful-so-i-must-be-in/#comment-939 Mark: Rube Goldberg machines perform simple tasks in a complicated way. I try to perform simple tasks using simple solutions. An electronically timed drip irrigation system is a fantastic way of delivering just the right amount of water direclty to the roots of the plants. Contrast with sprinklers, which spray water droplets into the air, on the sidewalk, on the leaves and stems, etc. A ton of it gets evaporated away, and the rest runs into the gutter. While travelling, without the electronic timing, I'd have to do the watering some other way. Perhaps by sending a message over the web or by mobile phone to my computer, which would then arm and release the valves.....Hmmm, interesing.... And I'll wax more lyrical about the non-Rube-Goldbergness of the bike some other time. But I do like your point about the pressure cooker to make tea all the same. :- ) -cvj Mark: Rube Goldberg machines perform simple tasks in a complicated way. I try to perform simple tasks using simple solutions. An electronically timed drip irrigation system is a fantastic way of delivering just the right amount of water direclty to the roots of the plants. Contrast with sprinklers, which spray water droplets into the air, on the sidewalk, on the leaves and stems, etc. A ton of it gets evaporated away, and the rest runs into the gutter. While travelling, without the electronic timing, I’d have to do the watering some other way. Perhaps by sending a message over the web or by mobile phone to my computer, which would then arm and release the valves…..Hmmm, interesing…. And I’ll wax more lyrical about the non-Rube-Goldbergness of the bike some other time.

But I do like your point about the pressure cooker to make tea all the same. :- ) -cvj

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