Vay Kay

We're off today for vacation, so this could be the last post for a while. There is a possibility that I'll post while I'm away, but I probably won't. See y'all later!

Nudie VD Burner

I misheard my co-worker today when he was telling me about a "new DVD burner" that he got. Quite unfortunate.

-KDH

Self Reference.

This post is great!

Okay, that's not really what I wanted to say. Today a friend of mine sent me a youtube link to a k.d. lang performance of a Leonard Cohen song "Hallelujah" (it was also in the movie Shrek). I find that I enjoy lyrics, like in this song, that have a playful cleverness about them. The lyrics I'm referring to are:

I've heard there was a special chord
that David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, Do ya?
It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth
The minor Fall, The major lift,
The baffled king composing, hallelujah

The clever part, of course, is that the music follows the chords as described in the song. I don't know what it is about self reference that I find so amusing... but I can't wait to see what more Hofstadter will say about it in GEB!

-KDH

p.s. Hung out with Kristin for a bit last night... quite a caper... a few antics as well!

GEB

I just started reading Douglas Hofstadter's "Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid". It had been on my "to read" list for a while now, and I finally broke down and bought it when I was in the bookstore the other night. I'm not a very quick reader to begin with, but I'm finding it to be quite a dense read... I've had a couple of long subway rides since starting it, and I've only managed to get through the preface (which Hofstadter added for the 20th anniversary edition) and the overview which is basically a bunch of one paragraph chapter synopses. A couple people have already asked me what the book is about... and so far, I can't really tell them. Hofstadter does, in the preface, lay out what he thinks the book is about and mentions that over the last 20 years, the book has been misinterpreted many times. I won't try to lay out his thoughts on the book, as it would likely become yet another in the long line of misinterpretations ... but ... for those of you unfamiliar with the book, it is a discussion of what he calls "strange loops" (such as self reference) in everything from mathematical models to art to language.... but I'm not saying that's what the book is about (lest Douglas Hofstadter should come here and smite me).

-KDH

p.s. I made the ö by cutting and pasting from another page... I don't actually know how to make them with my (clearly insufficient) keyboard

p.p.s. No antics or capers with Kristin yet... I'll keep you posted!

KristinInToronto.blogspot.com?

I'm not sure when, but I believe that Kristin is scheduled to arrive today, so my dear reader, you can expect to be treated with the retelling of many great capers and crazy antics over the next four and a half days.

It's only four and a half days of inane adventure because Susanna and I will then leave for Denver to attend the Barbershop Harmony Society's annual international convention... it's actually more fun than it sounds.... and besides, we'll be spending the first half of the trip driving (and maybe hiking) around through the mountains of Colorado, which probably appeals to a wider audience.

-KDH

Getting old

Okay, I know I'm not really getting old (well... I am getting older, but I think we all are), but I am reminded that my body doesn't heal quite as quickly as it did even 5 years ago. At ultimate tonight, I laid out for a disk (for those not well versed in ultimate lingo, laying out is diving) and landed quite hard on the ground. I only played one more point in the game because I seemed to reaggravate my sore shoulder from the weekend. Also, I found that my hip flexors were quite tight this game despite some stretching that I did before and after the game... I think it's time to head back to the chiropractor!

-KDH

Keeping up with the Joneses

I noticed that my two "sister-blogs" (you know the ones that look just like mine) both made very long posts over the weekend, so in the spirit of feelings of inadequacy, I'll endeavour to keep up with them... if not in interest, perhaps in length.

A large portion of this past weekend was spent on the fields of Sunnybrook Park playing in an ultimate tournament run by TUC (Toronto Ultimate Club). After two hot sunny days of playing, my body is perhaps a little worse for the wear. I know that I probably stretched more both before and after that games, but as I haven't really played a full tournament in a couple of years, I'm finding myself a little extra sore today (could be I'm also a couple years older). Also, up until the last game of the day on Sunday (which I had to cut out of before the end), I was doing so well with my regimen of reapplying the sunscreen between every game. Consequently, my arms have a tinge of red in them today.

The reason I had to cut out of the ultimate tourney before the end of the finals (other than that the game went longer than scheduled) was so that I could make it back to Susanna's parents' place to shower and shave a pretty myself up for a family portrait that we were doing for father's day. The photo shoot was a rigorous series of posing around the flowers and fountains at Susanna's father's golf club. Susanna even commented that I didn't even complain once about having my picture taken, but I think it was just because I was too busy complaining about how sore and sunburned I was from the ultimate tourney.

We went out for dinner after the photos, and I was just exhausted. I'm surprised I didn't just wake up with my face buried in a pile of BBQ'ed meat, but I did manager to make it home (although , since I don't drive, I must admit it had more to do with Susanna than with me) where I basically slept on the couch until Susanna was ready for bed and then dragged myself to bed where I passed out. I slept for about 9 hours which is a longer sleep than I have had in a long time. The nine hours were interrupted by many times trying to find a comfortable poistion for my aching shoulder, various sunburns and scrapes.