It was a boffo year for Broadway.
A P.D.Q. Bach "Retrogressive"
The music of P.D.Q. Bach, the last (and least) of J. S. Bach’s sons, is being celebrated in a special “Retrogressive” this week at Manhattan’s Symphony Space. The occasion is the 40th anniversary of the first performance of the, alas, entirely fictional composer’s music by Peter Schickele. Says Playbill Arts: “Shickele who is also known …
The Great Wall of MIT
They’re experimenting at MIT with a rammed-earth wall–a wall built using the same technology as the Great Wall of China. The hope is that it might be a more environmentally friendly way to build certain structures today than concrete. So far, after two months, the wall is holding up well.
The sad state of self-assessment
Thinking about New Year’s resolutions this year? If you think you don’t need to make a resolution because you’re already wonderful—well, science says, you’re probably wrong. Human beings, it seems, are notoriously incompetent at self-assessment. In the December issue of Scientific American Mind, David Dunning, professor of psychology at Cornell University, Chip Heath, professor of …
Popular in Norway again?
All of a sudden, I’m getting all kinds of visits from the ntnu.no domain, which belongs to the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim. The last time this happened was when I was posting lots of pictures of Banff. I have no idea why it happened then, or why it’s happening now. …
Merry Christmas!
That’s all I have to say today.
The power of Harry Potter
When a new book in the series comes out, children’s traumatic injury rates fall. Magic!
The first sentence I wrote today was…
The first sentence of the first chapter of this book stated, “Engineers—and engineering projects—were few and far between on the prairies in the years before Saskatchewan’s birth as a province.” Yes, I’m summing up–which means I’m on the last chapter! I’m on the last chapter! I’M ON THE LAST CHAPTER! Ahem. Sorry, I got a …
First edition, first printing, of King James Bible found in Manitoba
This is a fascinating story: a rare (only about 50 copies are known) first-edition, first-printing (from 1611) copy of the King James Bible has been uncovered in Manitoba. Just in time for the annual celebration of the birth of Jesus! (who, all of us of a certain upbringing probably believed at one point in our …
Commodore comeback, Part 2
More about the comeback of my old computing friend Commodore. (Via Gizmodo.)
The first two sentences I wrote today were…
The first step in building a road is choosing a route for that road. The best way to choose that route is from aerial photographs—and nobody has more experience at it than Jack Mollard, president of J.D. Mollard and Associates in Regina. The topic is the use of aerial and satellite photography in engineering and …
Stocking stuffer chemistry
Christmas, as everyone knows (except parents who insist on giving socks and underwear—you know who you are) is all about toys. But that doesn’t mean it can’t also be about science. David A. Katz, a chemist, educator, science communicator and consultant from Tucson, Arizona, has a webpage called Chemistry in the Toy Store which describes …
My latest live walk and vlog
Buy Autographed Books
