Gentlemen: Masturbation prevents cancer! Think of this little study as a Christmas present from the scientific community.

Peace on Earth, and goodwill to all.

Well, the concert was a big success. I had a great time. To those that were able to make it, thanks for coming! Everyone else: you missed a good time, and I hope you can make it next year.

When I got to the concert, Ann (the person in charge) had made some changes in the program. 1: she said in my bio that i'm fluent in Swedish. I can hold my own in a conversation, but I wouldn't say i'm fluent. 2: She listed me as a soloist in one of the pieces. Now, as the only tenor in the concert, I was sort of singing solo the whole time, so it wasn't that big of a deal. BUT in the song in which I was listed as a soloist, through some confusion, we eneded up starting a whole step higher than the song is written. Now, as the song is written, it's challengingly high at parts. A whole step up is higher than I've ever sung in public. I managed to pull it off, though. good times.

Anyhow, I've started getting my science nerd magazine again, so expect interesting science trivia to show up even more often in the near future.

By popular request, directions to my concert (1500 Ralston Ave, Belmont, CA) tonight:
From 101:

1. Take Ralston Ave Exit towards Belmont
2. Go under the train tracks and through a commercial area (still on Ralston Ave)
3. Notre Damme de Namur entrance is on your right

From 280:

1. Take the highway 92 exit towards Belmont/San Mateo
2. Take the Ralston Avenue exit (very first exit on 92)
3. Turn Left onto Ralston Avenue
4. Take Ralston ave for a few miles
5. Notre Damme de Namur is on your left

Once you have turned onto the campus take an immediate left onto a dark, narrow road with speedbumps. On your right and up the small hill is the Ralston Mansion. You can park in the lot on the left.

The concert starts at 7:30. If you want to avoid traffic I recommend taking 280. Admission is $10. Proceeds are going to NDNU music dept. Cookies & punch will be served. I think it will be a lot of fun, and hope to see your smiling faces there.

What's your environmental footprint? With a little fudging for continental differences, I score 200-400 (that's 2-4 hectares, whatever the heck that means). Check it out at newscientist.com

And in other news, the level-headed Swedes have pointed out that we're all way too excited about this whole global warming thing. Apparently, in order for all these massive climate change global warming scenarios to come true, we'd need to burn about 5 times more fossile fuel than anybody actually estimates exists on earth. Here's the article, again from new scientist.

I'm reading a cool book called Close to the Machine: Technophilia and its Discontents by Ellen Ullman. It's sort of roughly structured as a novel, but it's mostly a series of philosophical discourse on the contemporary work environment. I recommend it to anyone that has worked in high-tech stuff or wants to understand someone that works with high-tech stuff. Here's an excerpt for everyone:

The corollary of constant change is ignorance. This is not often talked about: we computer experts barely know what we're doing. We're good at fussing and figuring out. We function well in a sea of unknowns. Our experience has only prepared us to deal with confusion. A programmer who denies this is probably lying, or else is densely unaware of himself. (110)

Despite the use of the masculine pronoun, the main character of the book is a middle-aged woman. I like the perspective this brings to the work, since a young, arrogant person would never admit to the sort of thing from the excerpt above, or even really be aware of it on a level that he could articulate it. The book focuses a lot on how the high-tech world is a wold of constant change, and how easy it is to be left behind. And how the constant change leaves everyone confused. The difference between the computer person and the non-computer person is that the computer person can deal with all the confusing, unknown, and simply baffling details and sort out what really is important.

Next time I fix someone's computer and they ask me how I knew how to do it, maybe i'll point them to this passage. I didn't know how. But i'm just used to not knowing and doing anyway. Now if only I could transfer this ability to more real-world interactions; then i'd be set.

Ok, so the decision is final. I'm doing the concert, and it's going to be cool, so everyone should come. It's tuesday the 16th at the Ralston Hall ballroom on the University of Notre Damme de Namur in Belmont. I'm singing in some choral christmas stuff there will be a Christmas Classics sing-along at the end (not to mention free cookies and punch!).

Tickets are $10 and a portion of the proceeds goes to the UNDN music department. Tickets will be available at the door, but if possible you should buy them from me ahead of time.