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August 20th, 2009
 | 07:53 am - what would we do without Barney Frank?
And here we learn the proper way to respond to people (in this case apparently a Larouchite) likening Obama's healthcare plan to Nazism:
Current Location: Berlin
Current Mood: encouraged
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August 19th, 2009
 | 09:35 pm - homophilharmonisch!
In my previous (friends-locked) post I said something about Berlin being large enough. I was only partly referring to its actual size. I was also referring to the fact that it has stuff like this:
Concentus Alius, the gay and lesbian orchestra of Berlin. No, I'm not actually considering joining, but it's nice to know they're out there.
(Actually at the moment I'm feeling rather overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of amateur orchestras that exist here, as I try to decide which one I'd like to join. I'm terrible at this sort of thing... I've been known to take a half hour deciding which soy sauce to buy in a Chinatown supermarket. This is worse.)
Current Location: Berlin
Current Mood: overwhelmed
Current Music: not orchestral, but could be gay
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July 19th, 2009
 | 02:25 am - For my birthday, I bought myself...
...no return ticket.
Current Location: Zürich
Current Music: Velvet Underground, "I'll be your mirror" (internal)
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July 16th, 2009
| 09:15 pm - and right on schedule...
While I was writing the previous post, an e-mail appeared in my inbox to say that DMJ has finally accepted The Pony.
Definitely going for a swim.
Current Location: still Zürich
Current Mood: even better
Current Music: still a violin concerto
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 | 09:07 pm - even mathematics is easier in Summer
This morning I woke up with the realization that while lying in bed late last night, I'd had a good idea for how to prove something that I've wanted to prove for a long time.
Then I went to work and wrote up the details over eight hours, and much to my astonishment, it was correct.
Then I came home and played Bach cello suites for about 20 minutes. (Badly, I might add, but somehow it's hard to truly ruin Bach.)
And now I will go swimming in the lake.
Why can't every day be like this?
Current Location: Zürich
Current Mood: grossartig
Current Music: sounds like a violin concerto
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July 8th, 2009
 | 01:44 am - Kultkino
Ever since ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) jholomorphic talked me into seeing the unforgetable canuxploitation film Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter, five years ago during a math conference in Montreal, I have repeatedly felt inspired by his example to persuade colleagues at conferences into seeing unusual movies with me. This week in Munich is no exception, and I would surely have dragged JHolomorphic along if he'd been here, to a film whose title alone (if not its content) would have made it impossible for him to refuse:
Indien
Aside from Lisalogic telling me that I must see this film, it seemed highly recommended by the fact that Munich's most distinctive independent cinema (incidentally also the one that shows Rocky Horror every weekend) has been showing it exactly once a week after 11pm for as long as anyone can remember. Of course JHolomorphic wouldn't have understood a word of it, as it was all in deep Austrian dialect, of which I followed about 30% myself --- but that wouldn't have stopped me from dragging him. Since he wasn't here, I had to drag his Ph.D. advisor instead. (His comment afterwards on comprehension: "Well, I've been to some math talks where I understood less." My collaborator KN also came, but he's German, so he got about 70%.)
Current Location: Munich
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June 22nd, 2009
| 10:37 am - the F word
I'm aware that I'm inviting trouble with this post, but I can't resist.
A lively dinnertime conversation a few days ago reminded me that there is a tendency... within various extreme corners and difficult-to-classify regions of the political universe... to overuse the word "fascism". Let me first say that I did indeed perceive some frighteningly fascist tendencies in the previous American presidency: a clear movement toward unlimited executive authority, lack of transparency, disregard for individual rights, frequent reliance on the words "patriotism" and "security" and demonization of others in order to justify just about anything... these things are all scarily reminiscent of that most difficult period in mid-twentieth century European history, and I get the impression that the majority of Americans actually noticed that eventually (albeit, belatedly). That said, I prefer to avoid using the "F word" in most conversations, because the historical baggage it carries is often more distracting than informative. A few months ago, a post on Megan McArdle's blog made this point much better and more amusingly than I could have managed, so I'd like to quote the post here in full. It begins by quoting a post from someone else, which in the present context will be a post within a post within a post... you'll forgive me the recursion. I've added emphasis in a couple of places.
( a post within a post within a post )
It's a sledgehammer, you see. People don't use this word because they think its dictionary definition best matches what they're talking about --- they use it because it has an impact. It makes the argument more foreceful, but it doesn't make it better.
Current Location: New York City
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April 6th, 2009
 | 09:48 pm - the nucular threat
A question to my readers living in the United States (in other words, almost all of you)... I'd make this a poll, but I don't know how to do that and this isn't going to be the evening to learn.
How many of you were aware that Obama, in his speech in Prague on Sunday, said the following?
So today, I state clearly and with conviction America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.
A quick and unscientific survey of the usual news websites yesterday gave me the strong impression that the American press had not really noticed this section of the speech. Yet it was the top headline on every Swiss or German news broadcast I heard yesterday.
It's also not the first time this has happened: he said something very similar in the Berlin speech in July. Did you know that? I'm just curious how much coverage this stuff is getting.
Current Location: Zürich
Current Music: Schweizer Radio DRS2
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April 4th, 2009
 | 12:43 pm - pillows
This is the world I would like to live in.
Except for the vodka... that's optional.
Current Location: home (Zürich Seefeld)
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November 5th, 2008
| 05:20 am - of all the things I could possibly post right now...
...let me just say this: somebody owes me another Augustiner Edelstoff.
Current Location: Zürich
Current Music: John McCain's concession speech
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October 25th, 2008
| 02:17 am - screaming guys (for Obama)
Not the strangest political ad I've ever seen (let's not forget about Mike Gravel), but probably the funniest:
And more than a little insightful about the current state of things.
Current Location: Zürich
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October 24th, 2008
 | 10:47 am - Proposition 8
Here's item #1 on the list of topics I've been meaning to post about for a few weeks. Prepare to be outraged.
Still with me? Now, it's possible that I get a bit more worked up about this issue than most straight people -- the first wedding of a close friend I ever attended was a same sex wedding (in Massachusetts, but before it was legal). So you can imagine how happy I'd be to see another state, which just granted that right quite recently, take it back (and invalidate thousands of existing marriages?).
You may have heard that the Yes on Proposition 8 campaign is being heavily funded by donors from outside of California; in fact it turns out that a very large proportion of those donors are Mormons, and the LDS church has taken it upon itself to move to the forefront of the fight against gay rights. (Another sensitive point for me: have I mentioned that half of my extended family is Mormon? I'm not in touch with them though, which is probably best for my sanity.)
In any case, if you are now suitably outraged and are a US citizen (you need not be a resident of California), then you can do something to support counter-ads by donating to the No on Prop 8 campaign. They make ads like this:
and this:
...and I admittedly come away from these thinking they probably could do better. But I'm not aware of any other group out there that's taking donations to fight the initiative, so this would seem to be the best option. (Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.)
Also, if you have a Livejournal with a very large friends-list, especially if it has a lot of queer and queer-friendly readers, then feel free to post about this or link to this post (which is public).
Current Location: Zürich
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October 16th, 2008
| 01:39 pm - Aren't technical universities fun?
I just saw the following written on a bathroom wall at my workplace:
Hier gilt E = mc2. Geniesse es, solange das der Fall ist.
Translation:
E = mc2 is the law here. Enjoy it while it's true.
Egad, wtf is going to happen to physics when the revolution comes?
Current Location: Zurich
Current Music: Pixies, "Winterlong"
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October 1st, 2008
 | 12:06 am - I'm entertained
For those who haven't been paying attention to all the fun, my previous post, on the Massachusetts state income tax has turned into quite a lively little discussion. (How do I measure liveliness? Well, the Nazis have already been mentioned.)
I must admit, I knew that it would. It was just a question of looking at the set of people who are on my friends-list and then considering the laws of physics. Anyway, I mention this just in case some of the rest of you feel an overwhelming urge to chime in with your views on why Massachusetts should or should not have an income tax, whether taxation is at all justified in the first place, and how far one may stretch the word "pogrom" before it offends someone. The more the merrier!
Current Location: Zürich
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/energetic.gif) hyper
Current Music: Mozart clarinet concerto on DRS2, a government supported radio station
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September 28th, 2008
| 12:49 pm - MA income tax?
I'm curious how many of you Massachusetts residents reading this are aware of this:
Massachusetts Proposal Would Repeal Income Tax
Seriously, is this something you've been hearing about, or is it lurking under the radar somewhere? It strikes me as an incredibly big deal. (Not to mention, an incredibly irresponsible idea... though I know that not all of you will disapprove.)
Current Location: Zürich
Current Mood: second bowl of corn flakes
Current Music: Schweizer Radio DRS2
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September 26th, 2008
| 10:22 am - the implausible bad news and good news
I started learning Russian last week. I also live in a country that borders a country that borders a country that borders a country that borders Russia. This might make me more qualified to be Vice President than... someone:
Let's be generous and give her a bonus point for being able to name the country across her Eastern border (and who knows what kind of threat they might pose!).
Seriously, who in the rest of the world will ever respect us if she gets into the White House? But all is not lost. These guys are hopeful:
Silly me, I didn't know it was common for actual Venetian gondoliers to sing Volare in particular. I thought it was just the guy in Central Park.
Current Location: Zürich
Current Music: Volare, what else?
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September 11th, 2008
| 04:41 am - 4:41am
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... jetlag.
Current Location: Zürich
Current Mood: distressingly awake
Current Music: the music in my head is far too loud
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September 4th, 2008
 | 11:24 am - unfortunate combinations
Yesterday evening I reformatted a new short paper to submit to a journal, while the other half of my brain was listening to the speeches at the Republican National Convention. This combination had unintended consequences.
This morning I woke up from a dream in which I'd gotten back the referee report for my paper, and figured out from the report that the referee was Ronald Reagan. He wrote that he didn't understand why I was doing what I did in the paper, because it seemed like I was trying to free the slaves, and the Republicans had already done that.
Current Location: Somerville, MA
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September 3rd, 2008
| 07:15 pm - the Republicans and oil
I just need to point out that as I type this, Rudy Giuliani is giving a speech to a convention center full of people who are chanting the words:
Drill baby drill!
This is real life.
Current Location: Waltham, MA
Current Mood: amused, I think
Current Music: the voice of Rudolph Giuliani
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August 29th, 2008
| 10:20 am - I remember now why I was impressed
For the last several months, after I decided that Obama seemed to me a clearly better choice than all the other options, I gave myself permission to pay not so much attention to politics... I had other things to worry about. In the process I started to forget what had made me so excited about Obama in the first place. Now, I'm not going to argue that he (or any other political figure) deserves the adoration of the masses. But there was one particular part of last night's convention speech that reminded me where that excitement had come from, and why I actually find it plausible that Obama might have an ability that no one else has to push the US in directions that I would approve of.
"America, our work will not be easy. The challenges we face require tough choices. And Democrats, as well as Republicans, will need to cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past, for part of what has been lost these past eight years can't just be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits. What has also been lost is our sense of common purpose, and that's what we have to restore.
We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country.
The -- the reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than they are for those plagued by gang violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals.
I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in a hospital and to live lives free of discrimination.
You know, passions may fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers.
But this, too, is part of America's promise, the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort."
I know it doesn't sound revolutionary, but I can't think of any other politician in my lifetime who has both agreed with me on many fundamental issues and shown enough respect for opposing viewpoints to give me hope that he might succeed at fashioning policies that would make a difference -- because the drawback of democracy is that he'll first have to find enough common ground with the opposition to convince them that he is (that we are) right. This is why the role of the president in this country is far more important than just the powers allotted to that office by the constitution. It's the most significant podium in the country, and after growing up with the reality of politicians that agree with me pretending they don't, for fear of earning the label of "liberal", now we have one who -- while not the most liberal on all policy details -- seems to have no trouble not only owning the core values of liberalism but also casting them in terms that, at least in theory, everyone should be able to identify with. Andrew Sullivan, a self-described libertarian who supports Obama despite it leading him outside of his "ideological comfort zone", put it this way in a blog post last night:
"It was a liberal speech, more unabashedly, unashamedly liberal than any Democratic acceptance speech since the great era of American liberalism. But it made the case for that liberalism - in the context of the decline of the American dream, and the rise of cynicism and the collapse of cultural unity. His ability to portray that liberalism as a patriotic, unifying, ennobling tradition makes him the most lethal and remarkable Democratic figure since John F Kennedy."
Yep, there are reasons for those comparisons.
I may very well be dreadfully disappointed in a few years. But I reserve the right to feel hopeful for now.
Current Location: Palo Alto, CA
Current Mood: it's still morning
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