Bod Brain Blog

To the Library, and Step on It!

2008-09-15T21:04:00.003-04:00

Encomiums sprang up all over the Web today following the news of the suicide of David Foster Wallace, who wrote Infinite Jest, a book which I love deeply and which had a profound influence on my first (incomplete and unpublished (except for Scribd)) novel, Sparkwood and 21. At that time, I wanted to be a combination of Wallace, James Joyce, and Neal Stephenson. Today, I don't have time to be so ambitious. Even more than Thomas Pynchon, Wallace opened up my latent creativity and I felt the freedom to let it flow. It is an experience I'll always cherish, even though the book remains largely a partial-birth abortion. Without Infinite Jest, it wouldn't have happened.

Words on his passing can be found in Slate, Omnivoracious, Wired, Cosmic Variance, the New Yorker, and Time.

The secret of Infinite Jest for me, its core conceit, is that it is the object that is described in the title. James Incandenza's movie literally entertains its audience to death. Anyone who watches it is mesmerized into a stupor and dies in corporeal neglect. A well-executed comment on the state of the world, in which sacrifice many other perfectly fine and logical pursuits in order to be entertained. Boredom, its most basic minimalist form, having nothing to watch, nothing to play with, to text, to touch, to listen to, more than ever, is the worse possible state of being (I am as guilty of this problem as anyone). So, we will turn to anything, even the most putrid and vile entertainments for the sake of the distraction. This is the message of the book, told in tennis academy where apocalyptic games are played and dictionaries memorized and in halfway houses.

But, and this the major but... The novel itself is an attempt to outentertain anything it describes or the culture it characterizes. It pummels you with its wit. There are laugh-out-loud moments on every page and an endless reservoir of inventiveness. Its barrage of jokes is exhausting. Its exceeds everything it is critiquing. It becomes Infinite Jest, at the end it feels as if it just keeps going that thousands more pages in waiting, but it is being merciful to the reader, releasing them even as Don Gately is subdued to a last entertainment.

I have one quick other observation about the novel. It is the child of technology and it probably wouldn't have been possible with the computer. It is the most expansive work of fiction not done on pen and paper or typewriter (this is my theory). The computer is endless, infinite page. It feels like Wallace took this as a challenge and tried to fill it.

Of course, one of the seminal moments of Infinite Jest is a suicide, by microwave. It is one of the most hilarious, poignant, disturbing scenes in the book, when Wallace describes how the genius patriarch of the novel, James Incandenza, managed to seal his head in the microwave and turn it on. James was the tortured, inventive ghost haunting the book. It is sad to see Wallace follow his own invention so literally.

David Foster Wallace, thank you. Without you, so many thoughts would still be locked in my head.

Obesity: Is nutritional confusion part of the problem?

2008-08-05T21:18:00.003-04:00

While waiting at the doctor's waiting room yesterday, I browsed a few old issues of TIME. I read the issue with a cover section on childhood obesity in-depth (the lead story is here). The article listed a number of factors as contributors to the problem, all of which I find compelling. An additional factor I would list (and have mentioned before) is the deflating value of nutritional information. People are deluged with contradictory information about proper nutrition and many older people have never recovered "food panics" which later turned out to be false alarms. Obviously, the media have greatly exasperated this problem by trumpeting any new food study that arrives and under-reporting when updated studies undercut sensational findings.

For instance, the Instapundit provided these links to studies about coffee and eggs. Eggs especially have been derided so thoroughly that the fears originally raised about them in the 1980's linger still. I have made them a cornerstone in my improved daily food menu. Two-a-day. I believe they have played a key-role in helping me to lose 4o pounds. Plus, I believe they are improving my health and energy.

Of course, their aid in my weight-loss is boosted by a highly-publicized study comparing three diet approaches, low-carb, low-fat, and Mediterranean. The low-fat fared the poorest, while the other two were similar in their improvements in cholesterol and weight loss. The conventional wisdom for a long time has been low-fat is critical to preventing heart disease. However, there has been burgeoning discussion that fat and cholesterol are not necessarily connected.

Where does leave a parent trying to feed their children? I wouldn't recommended a pure Atkins diet. But, I wouldn't worry about a lots of protein and a healthy dose fat in their normal diet if you increase fruits and vegetables and decrease sugars and calories. The trouble is that I think many parents have heard so much different information that they simply give-up trying to create a balanced or sensible diet. As TIME pointed out though, poverty and location are the major factors, but nutrition misinformation should not be ignored as an issue.

Where have you been?

2008-08-04T20:11:00.002-04:00

Well, needless to say, I've been ignoring my blogging duties. Why? I've been busy trying to "fitter, happier, more productive" as you can see from this post over at my scale. Brief update: Still on course and still enjoying the WiiFit (241.8). Also, really glad to have Mad Men back, enjoyed Step-Brothers immensely, great Brian Greene video here, and a really thought-provoking David Brooks talk here. I have also been working on my book, meanwhile an old book of mine is now on a "hotlist." As the Sports Guy might say, good times. I will try to post more diligently in the coming weeks.

Down the Rabbit Hole

2008-06-02T23:52:00.002-04:00

My wife's seizures follow a mysterious internal clock, one governed by its own rhythms that on of their face don't seem to follow any we are familiar with. It has been obvious to us for years now that her seizures are brought by hormonal changes. However, they do not occur on a monthly cycle. Instead, the clock strikes about every six weeks.

We know in general now when they are about the happen. Still, when the alarm sounds, that first moment when the switch clicks somewhere deep in her brain, its always the same. Its always a surprise and its always terrifying. I am much more calm and able to handle the moments that follow. We have a pretty good system and a miracle medicine (Diastat) that clamps down on the seizures and has saved us for many harrowing emergency room visits. Still, I never get used to the start of it.

Tonight, we were watching the Red Wings game and she fell asleep. A few moments later, I sensed something change. I turned to her and eyes were wide open, her pupils blazing. Everytime, it slowly dawns on me. "What?" at first and then "Oh, s***". Down the rabbit hole and more missing time between us. She will be gone for a few days and not quite herself.

One of my favorite sayings is "Wherever you go, there you are." Right now, she's not there. Her body is here, but she is somewhere else. I can't wait for her to come back, to have her with me until the alarm sounds again.

Hand Drying: The New Frontier

2008-05-28T23:48:00.003-04:00

According to the Center for Disease Control, if you do not practice proper hand drying, you might as well not wash your hands:

Wet hands have been know to transfer pathogens much more readily than dry hands or hands not washed at all. The residual moisture determines the level of
bacterial and viral transfer following hand washing. Careful hand drying
is a critical factor for bacterial transfer to skin, food and environmental
surfaces.

However, while hand drying seems like a simple task, drying with a towel or paper wipes never seems to do the trick. In addition, paper wipes are extremely wasteful and easily add up to mess in public bathrooms. Drying is the Achilles Heel of hand hygiene and I don't think people realize the importance of it. To improve hygiene, the key will be to take the work and time out of it. But, I think we're winning the war on hand drying.

That's why I flipping out about the revolution in drying technology. The first major leap forward that I came in contact with is the Xlerator, which packs air speeds which make your skin ripple and is a vast improvement over the slow and tedious hand dryer. I've encountered these in a few places, but you may find one at a Target store.

The Xlerator has been eclipsed though. During a weekend trip to the movies, I came in contact with the perfect hand dryer: The Dyson Airblade. The unique, simple, and fascinating design features the high air speeds, but also dries both sides of you hand at once. It is simply an amazing and so utterly simple a concept. But, if these catch on, the Airblade could save lives.

Wired goes Nuclear

2008-05-20T22:45:00.003-04:00

Wired highlights the upside of Nuclear Power. Check out the link to the map showing carbon emissions. I wish Michigan was brighter. Also, this book by Gwyneth Cravens appears to a very intriguing survey of the subject. Cravens is a former nuclear opponent who was convinced that it is a better option than global warming. Cravens tells her story at this Long Now seminar.

Free Speech Alert: Don't Throw "Cult" Around Loosely

2008-05-20T22:39:00.005-04:00

Great Britain has taken an aggressive approach to limiting speech critical of religion. The Instapundit provides a fresh example. Freedom of religion is fine, but not at the expense of freedom of speech. Let's pray that this sort of thing does not happen here.

An Amazing Album

2008-05-20T22:27:00.003-04:00

In Rainbows: I've listened to it probably ten times in the last few days. A very different vibe for them, but a very rewarding listen. From Nude until the end of the album every song is amazing. Currently, my favorite song is House of Cards, a sparse but spacious song that has a ghostly keyboard refrain near the end of the song that makes it feel likes an 80's song. Also, check out this All Songs Considered episode with Thom Yorke, who was very humble and had an intriguing playlist.

Crisis in China and Myanmar

2008-05-13T18:47:00.003-04:00

I think the prayers of the junta in Myanmar were answered when the earthquake in China occurred. It has taken an immense amount of pressure off the foul leadership in Burma, especially from the Western media. Today, I think Myanmar fell off the news cycle. On NBC Nightly News, the lead story was China, but the second story was... West Virginia? Also, China got five minutes. Five minutes, while seconds were wasted on Clinton and Obama running into each other on the Senate floor This is pathetic. Hurricane Katrina was an undeniable and unfortunate tragedy. However, it was covered as if it were a catastrophe which exceeded the scale of either China and Myanmar. Much of the coverage involved negative attacks on the government response and over-reports of deaths and unrest.

In Myanmar, one of the major impediments to better coverage may be the refusal of the government to allow reporters. It seems that major television news is unable to figure a way to attack the story from the outside.

The reporting in China would also probably be significantly less impactful without the serendipity of National Public Radio's Robert Siegal and Melissa Block already being in China for a planned series of stories on the country next week. They have filed harrowing reports of the destruction and provided perspective for many other news agencies. Tuesday afternoon's All Things Considered included far and away the most comprehensive coverage of the story.

One thing I have been wondering about is how serious China has been about building codes. This article from NPR claims that China has building codes in place to protect against such a disaster. A structural engineer anticipates that most of the buildings that suffered catastrophic damage were older buildings. More coverage on NPR's Chengdu Diary.

Creme de la Commentary

2008-05-12T22:59:00.002-04:00

I'm a podcasting fiend. Good ones are hard to find and easy to exhaust. I love a good conference podcast, a speakers series, or the Sports Guy's seminal BS Report. Lately, I've received immense enjoyment for Ronald D. Moore's Battlestar Galactica Podcasts. For him, recording the podcasts seems to be a labor of love rather than a chore. I especially enjoy the podcasts accompanied by his wife as well as the inside the business tangents they sometimes veer off into.

The ultimate podcast from the series is a three-hour with his wife and some of the cast members recorded during season three. The back-and-forth is engrossing. Its a conversation I could have listened to for another three hours and I think they could gone for much longer also (although the Scotch may have eventually caught up with them.)

Another Space Item

2008-05-07T22:55:00.004-04:00

Rand Simberg provides a lengthy and frisky post about government space policy. Glenn Reynolds and Simberg have altered my view on the role of NASA in space affairs. Simberg sees the government's role as providing an infrastructure for reaching space rather flying a few astronauts to space. This is a sound concept, but not really floated in the mainstream. Alas, serious discussion of space is not really mainstream.

Space Property Rights

2008-05-07T22:41:00.003-04:00

Wired takes a look at a SMU Journal of Air Law and Commerce (also linked to by Instapundit) article by Dave Wasser and Douglas Jobes about property rights in space and draws parallels to the (not-always-succesful) colonization of America. The Wired piece is a little bit skeptical about the matter, but its well past time to rely on the current model of relying on NASA to get there. According to Wired, Wasser and Jobes propose selling off the property rights. As I've said previously, I think we should go a step further. If you get there first, the land is yours and you don't pay taxes on the land or for any business done at that location.

Real Estate Top Ten

2008-05-07T22:06:00.002-04:00

I live in a new development near Grand Haven. It is ultimately designed for around 500 homes, but so far has only filled less than 10 percent of the lots. Obviously, things have been slow here, but the good news is that they have not ground to a complete halt. We continue to welcome new neighbors at a regular pace and the activity in the neighborhood has picked up. The developer, Eastbrook Homes, is committed to the neighborhood and has begun construction on a clubhouse and pool.

While the nation is mired in a real estate slump, Grand Rapids is apparently on the better end of things. It is listed as one of the 10 fastest growing real estate markets in the country on CNN.com. Maybe that's why Eastbrook Homes is bullish about our neighborhood.

Wii News: Boom Blox Debuts

2008-05-06T16:46:00.004-04:00

Wired provides full-press coverage of Boom Blox, the new Wii game which Steven Spielberg helped design. The review is very positive. We may have to move this ahead of Mario Kart on our list of Wii games to get. My only question is why these blockbuster titles come out in the summer (Grand Theft Auto, Mario Kart, Boom Blox, Wii Fit). I guess its when kids have free time, but these things would be much more useful in the dead of winter.

Depopulation Alert

2008-05-06T16:38:00.002-04:00

While food and energy crunches have many concerned about overpopulation, the specter of depopulation looms in the background for the developed world. The Instapundit points to more evidence here.

Theory comes Alive

2008-04-30T19:02:00.003-04:00

In college, I participated in a Ulysses book-club. Some of the participants were frustrated with the obtuseness of the book and we had a debate whether popular, accessible classics had mroe value and were more worthwhile than more esoteric works because they have a greater audience and more of an impact. Beyond the intrinsic artistic of a novel like Uylsses, I think its social value is easy to determine. It only has to influence one person to be worthwhile, especially if that person is inspired to go on create a popular classic.

I'm a sucker for these types of books. I am also a sucker for esoteric types of science and theory that seem to have no real value while their being developed or are first enunciated but prove to be extremely valuable as they led to great breakthroughs. On Wired, theory comes to life again with the creation of the "memristor," a new type of circuit that could significantly improve and enhance the computer of the future. While we may be approaching the limits of Moore's Law, researchers seem to be finding new ways to hack the concept of the computer of possibly provide other directions to keep the innovation moving forward. As Peter Thiel puts it, we have to hit the accelerator really hard (more on Thiel later, link via Instapundit).

Bring on the Night

2008-04-30T18:51:00.005-04:00

A great article from NASA on capturing images of cities at night around the world. The article provides striking pictures of major cities and discusses how these pictures reveal unique characteristics that are not obvious in day-time photos. The article also covers the tech behind the photos. I placed my favorite above. (via Kevin Kelly)

Greatest Comedy Sketches

2008-04-30T00:15:00.003-04:00

The Sports Guys provided this link to Nerve.com and IFC's list of the 50 Greatest Comedy Sketches. The list did not include two of my all-time favorites: the Ringing Phone ("What kind of freak is sitting there by that phone?!!) and Mr. Short-Term Memory from SNL (Hey, it's Tony Randall!).

World Food Crisis Link

2008-04-29T23:29:00.003-04:00

The Instapundit highlights this link from Fabius Maximus, a sober, sobering, and erudite breakdown of world food prices and the connection to inflation of all foundational commodities (energy, industrial materials, precious metals, and agriculture). Having lived in a period of seemingly unending over-capacity all my life, the coming years are starting to seem a little galling.

Of course, I've been anticipating the rise in oil for most of my life. Possibly just not so soon. While I think supply is definitely part of trouble with energy, I think here in America there has been a lack of maturity regarding investment in the infrastructure. Every one wants more gas, but no one is willing to have a refinery in their backyard. Nuclear power is a similar problem. If only this applied to refineries and nuclear power, but it also applies more benign energy source like wind. Wind! Too noisy, too unsightly. If I had the choice, I'll volunteer for the wind farm and the others can have the refinery.

The under-capacity, under-investment problem could be thorny for years to come. The only bright spot is that it should generate investment in energy infrastructure, alternative energies, nuclear power, and agriculture while also softening opposition to genetically modified food and hopefully ending support of misguided subsidies for corn-based biofuel. For now, hold on to your seats. It's going to be a bumpy ride.

The Low Spark of the Higher Ed Degree

2008-04-29T22:54:00.005-04:00

A former boss of mine used to rail about how underwhelming many college graduates were as employees. He once told me that he would consider hiring people with a degree if he could. At first, I doubted him. Over time, as I've seen the cost of college increase, I've been wondering students are getting value. Marty Nemko clearly states the trouble with higher ed today in this opinion piece (via Instapundit). Students are paying dearly while often not seeing a return on investment. College is becoming more expensive and its taking longer. While I agree with a lot of his points, I would add that students are to blame partially for their lack of interest and that universities are investing a lot of time and resources in bringing incoming students up to a university level.

Nemko offers some intriguing suggestions. Hopefully, others will join him and we can on higher ed reform instead of providing funds for everyone to go college, seemingly with no strings attached.

Cold Snap

2008-04-26T15:24:00.002-04:00

On Friday afternoon, we hit the low 80's, the peak of two weeks of sublime and warm weather. Every day, we were able to open the windows and let the cats sniff and sunbathe. But, being only April in West Michigan, it couldn't last. Cold hit. It was a miserably cold morning and we had an 8 a.m. soccer game. Above is a pic of Lake Michigan at early morning full roar.

An Atheist in a Foxhole

2008-04-26T14:11:00.004-04:00

CNN puts an atheist soldier as its top story on the web side. The soldier has filed suit alleging that he has been subject to discrimination because he is an atheist. I appreciate the attention the soldier is getting for standing up for his beliefs (or lack thereof), but its typical of CNN to focus on a negative military story when a lot of positive things are happening right now.

Anyway, the soldier sounds like a sharp kid and is modest about his situation without sounding bitter. I assume there is much more to the story and its does not include quotes from those who served with him. However, I did enjoy this quote:

It eventually came out in Iraq in 2007, when he was in a firefight. Hall
was a gunner on a Humvee, which took several bullets in its protective shield.
Afterward, his commander asked whether he believed in God, Hall said.

"I said, 'No, but I believe in Plexiglas,"' Hall said. "I've never
believed I was going to a happy place. You get one life. When I die, I'm worm
food."

One issue the story raises is that there seems to a belief in the American military that sound religious beliefs are necessary for effective leadership and that belief is necessary in general. It is not difficult to imagine how this type of thinking was ingrained in the military, but I think it is unfortunate. It is obvious that an atheist can serve or lead as well as anyone else. For a good example of bravery by a soldier who was not the typical blue-blooded Christian soldier, read this moving Christopher Hitchens piece.

On another Iraq note, despite media reports to the contrary, things are going well in Basra. For an in-depth analysis of how the surge was developed and implements, check here.

Lost Recap at the Brane

2008-04-24T23:36:00.001-04:00

Recap here.

Lost meets LHC?

2008-04-24T20:44:00.003-04:00

Popular Mechanics has some cool Lost coverage (here and here), including the revelation that Lost will somehow tie in with the yet to be complete Large Hadron Collider. I'm not sure how literal this connection will be, but personally, I think any kind of Lost/Particle Collider connection can only be a good thing. When I was in college, I became enamored of the concept of the particle collider and realized that I lived only a few hours away to one of the most advanced science labs in the world (Fermilab). I made a pilgrimage there with my parents. It turned out to be quite an experience, it was a cool place, with some nice public exhibits. There is something really odd about an esoteric super-experiment being located on a sprawling complex with buffalo and native prairie grasses. If you're in the area, it's a can't miss.

Promising Mirror World/Real World Interface

2008-04-24T20:22:00.006-04:00

Bruce Sterling highlights an intriguing app being developed for the Google Android Developer Challenge. The video (follow link) provides a nice demonstration of the app, as well as a description of future plans for the technology including integration of a gyroscope and the use of 3d buildings models. I think this is just of the type of iceberg. I also imagine that we will be seeing a similar concept integrating GPS and Street View. A timely idea, moving one step closer to an Augmented Reality invention that Popular Mechanics is waiting for. As the Instapundit would say: Bring it on!