“A top athlete’s beauty is next to impossible to describe directly. Or to evoke. Federer’s forehand is a great liquid whip, his backhand a one-hander that he can drive flat, load with topspin, or slice — the slice with such snap that the ball turns shapes in the air and skids on the grass to maybe ankle height. His serve has world-class pace and a degree of placement and variety no one else comes close to; the service motion is lithe and uneccentric, distinctive (on TV) only in a certain eel-like all-body snap at the moment of impact. His anticipation and court sense are otherworldly, and his footwork is the best in the game — as a child, he was also a soccer prodigy. All this is true, and yet none of it really explains anything or evokes the experience of watching this man play. Of witnessing, firsthand, the beauty and genius of his game. You more have to come at the aesthetic stuff obliquely, to talk around it, or — as Aquinas did with his own ineffable subject — to try to define it in terms of what it is not.”

From his ode to Roger Federer:
Roger Federer as Religious Experience

His take on the usage wars:

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A fascinating look at the Amen Break:

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It’s a slightly surreal tale with much of the action taking place within the protagonist’s mind. For example, you’ll get to meet one of the principle characters: a frog simply named Frog. This surrealism doesn’t detract from the touching commentary on family, love and friendship.

I left the play perfectly pleased by these genuine reflections on the human condition which were complemented by the sensory experience of wonderful acting, music and set design. It was a great 90 minutes of theatre.

The one thing that struck me about my fellow bloggers and our discussion with the Assistant Director is how everyone else seems to love to dissect art. What did it all mean? What were the themes? Let’s discuss the symbolism. Perhaps I’m just an anti-intellectual when it comes to these things but I find that this deconstruction detracts from my overall enjoyment of the piece. Why is it when artists work together to achieve a wonderful harmony, we feel the need to rip it all apart? Thoughts anyone?

Thank you to all at the Berkeley Rep for inviting some of us bloggers to take it all in and thanks to Kevin for organizing.

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In the nightly choice between reading a good book and watching a sitcom on television, we often choose the latter — although surveys show again and again that the average mood while watching sitcoms on television is mild depression. Habitually choosing the easy pleasures over the gratifications may have untoward consequences. — Authentic Happiness, p. 117

It’s a wonderful, thought-provoking book. Highly recommended.

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Those who know me know that I’m all about new music. (Aside: who cares about the new Radiohead when this is about to drop.) So I was excited to hear the sounds of composers Tan Dun, Kaija Saariaho, Jay Lyon and Benjamin Britton.

The first piece by Tan Dun was a challenging listen. I couldn’t quite figure out what the heck the composer was going for here. To be fair, I find it difficult to appreciate dissonant music in a live setting. There’s too much visual distraction. A good stereo and some solitude got me into Sun Pandamonium — perhaps that’s what this Dun stuff needs too.

The second piece “Sept Papillons” by Saariaho was very effective and interesting. Jean-Michel Fonteneau managed to bring forth the sounds of butterflies from his cello. It was technically impressive and somehow pleasantly jarring.

As for the rest of the program, I honestly just didn’t get it. That’s it. I wish I had more of an explanation. It just left me cold. That said, it was a really enjoyable evening. The building is beautiful and the people were wicked cool. I love being challenged by music. I’ll be sure to make my way back.

Thanks to Cariwyl and the staff and the Conservatory for organizing the whole thing.

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Written by econometrician and lawyer Ian Ayres, Super Crunchers is an exploration of how statistics practitioners continue to reshape our world. Using randomized testing and regression analysis, the Super Crunchers create mathematical models to solve real world problems. Prof. Ayres details how crunching the numbers is changing online marketing, entertainment, education and medicine. Virtually every aspect of society can benefit.

One of the central themes of the book is that these models consistently outperform humans with expertise. Ayres submits that humans (even world-renowned experts) are plagued by overconfidence, egos and emotions. Mathematical models don’t get it right 100% of the time but the models consistently outperform the experts. Gatekeepers relying purely on experience and instinct are a dying breed. This fact warms my heart.

The downside is that Super Crunchers demand as much relevant data as possible. Your actions are being recorded like never before. Database aggregators link disparate sources of information together. Privacy lovin’ individuals (i.e. most of us) are bound to be a tad uncomfortable. But maybe, just maybe, there’s a greater good somewhere in all this supercrunching.

My biggest complaint about the book is that Ayres’s suggested readings don’t contain anything on Applied Super Crunching. I’ve taken some statistics courses but would love to know more about Super Crunching methodology. Then again, maybe that’s subject matter of his next book.

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