23 February 2025

"Playground"


It was an easy decision for me to add Playground to my ever-growing list of recommended books.  This was not a "discovery" on my part; the book has been praised in reviews in The Guardian, The New York Times, NPR, and the Washington Post.  I chose it because it has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and the author has previously won a Pulitzer.

Those curious about the book should consult the cited reviews.  The novel is not plot-driven; the storyline's focus is on a proposal to construct in French Polynesia factories for creating habitats that can be used for "seasteading" the ocean.  What the author provides is an in-depth study of the people destined to be involved in this venture, from their childhoods in our lifetimes to the conclusion in a near alternate future.  I was impressed by the author's obvious research not only into all aspects of oceanography, but also into artificial intelligence.

Herewith some excerpts of memorable passages (page citations from the hardback first edition):
"A leatherback, she'd once read, must cry two gallons of water every hour, just to keep its blood less salty than the sea." (15)

"On the one night of the year when the moon's cycle and the temperature of the water both declared their undecodable now, the whole reef exploded in a heave of joyous sex.  All the colonies in every direction for as far as Evie could see shot their trillions of sperm and egg into the sea at once... As the flecks eddied all around her, something in Evie whispered, I could die now.  I have seen the relentless engine, the inscrutable master plan of Life, and it will never end." (112)

"Just remember.  Impossible decisions are really the easy decisions."
"Wait, what?  Is this some kind of deep feminine wisdom?"...
"If two choices are impossible to choose between, it means they have equal merit.  Either choice can have your belief.  It doesn't matter which you choose.  You shed one chooser and grow into another."
"For several seconds, Didier cold not decide if what his wife had just said was banal and absurd or the single insight that his entire life had been struggling toward, the one that would solve all the flaws of his temperament and leave him enlightened..." (279)

"I worked for the love of it, the sheer joy... to escape the hell of my family and to make a good thing out of nothing.  The need to solve an intricate puzzle and the need to quiet your brain are twin sons of different mothers." (304)

"She did her best to depict the baroque, astonishing architectures of creatures who made up that three-fifths of the ocean biomass too small for humans to see." (318)

"She had grown old, older than half of the world’s current countries. She had seen the collapse of the infinite fisheries off the Grand Banks, observed the disappearance of snow crabs from the Bering Sea, watched miles-wide drag nets dredge up in one afternoon coral cities that had taken ten thousand years to grow, seen the global sea acidify, watched most of the world’s reefs bleach white, and witnessed the start of nodule mining that would rip the heart from the living deep. She had lived to see trash at the bottom of the Challenger Deep, the remotest places on Earth turned into resorts, the Gulf Stream wavering, and a photic zone too hot to mix, leaving the nutrients trapped in the layers below. Nine-tenths of large life is missing, and the rest filled with heavy metals. The largest part of the planet exhausted, before it was ever explored.” (348)
And some words that were new to me (or that I had forgotten...):
"Here he was, so close she could feel his wake: a great chevron-morph goliath she called the Loner."  A wide V-shaped form, from the Old French chevron, so called because it looks like rafters of a shallow roof [here referring to a manta].

"She let loose a whispered stream of joual invective so vile..."  The dialect of working-class Quebecers. 

"The cleaning station would soon become a lekking site, with gangs of hopped-up males circling the edges..."  An aggregation of male animals for the purposes of courtship and display, from Germanic roots meaning "play."

"He was no great student of cleromancy, and his father, the miner, had mocked it as a superstition that united peasants and elites."  Divination by throwing dice or any such marked objects, like beans, pebbles, or bone, from the Greek for "a lot."

Consider Pluto's orbit


Pluto's orbital period is 248 earth-years.  That means from the time it was discovered (in 1930) until now, it hasn't accomplished even one revolution around the sun.

Two relevant thoughts from the Reddit thread:
"...assuming they have the same life span as humans, Plutonians would never celebrate their Plutonian birthday!"

"I wonder when Plutonians celebrate their New Year, and how much more awesome the parties must be if you have to wait that long."
Image via Thinking Sci-FiReposted from 2013.

Spiny lobster


I didn't want to end the blogging week with a picture of someone getting their teeth hammered out at the top of the queue, so I'll insert this one of a spiny lobster, from a gallery of underwater photography at The Guardian.

22 February 2025

Today is Edward Gorey's one-hundredth birthday

During my blogcation, I had the opportunity to reread several books by Edward Gorey.  I've amended and updated my post on The Gashlycrumb Tinies, but as I discovered while reading his books, some of the humor was frankly a bit unsettling -


Especially when the subject matter involves children:


Reposted from 2016 for Halloween 2021.  Reposted from 2021 to celebrate Gorey's one-hundredth birthday.

20 February 2025

"Bad Sisters"


I almost gave up on this series because the principal character (the one destined to be murdered) is so extremely and unremittingly repulsive because of his misogyny.  He combines the sinister characteristics of Fagin with the worst sliminess of Uriah Heep.  OTOH, all the characters (including the doomed man) are superbly portrayed by a cast that was unfamiliar to me, but who I will look forward to seeing again in season 2.  In the end, the series was enjoyable and thoroughly worth watching.

10 episodes, streaming on Apple TV; not yet on DVD AFAIK.

Reposted from December to add the trailer for season 2.  I doubted that the second year could match the first because the storyline of the first one was so unique.  But I thoroughly enjoyed the second season as well, thanks to the superb acting by all of the female cast members.

WARNING:  Don't watch the season 2 trailer until after you've watch the season 1 episodes (it has multiple spoilers for the first season).


As always, I welcome readers' comments, but I'll block any that contain even a hint of a spoiler.

Humorous golf terms

In episode 2 of the second season of "Bad Sisters," one character says that his golf nickname is "Adolph" because he "takes two shots in the bunker."  After I finished laughing, I did a quick search, which led me to a list assembled in a Golf Monthly forum, several of which I have abstracted below.  Golfers will understand what these mean:
A Salman Rushdie - an impossible read

A Rock Hudson - thought it was straight, but it wasn't

A Cuban - needs one more revolution

An Adolf Hitler - two shots in the bunker

A Glenn Miller - kept low and didn't make it over the water

A Rodney King - over-clubbed

An O.J. Simpson - got away with it

A Princess Grace - should have taken a driver

A Princess Di - shouldn't have taken a driver

A Jean-Marie LePen - a long way right

A circus tent - a BIG top

A Ryanair - flies well but lands a long way from the target
Many are in poor taste; the egregiously bad ones I left behind at the link.

Death by deep-sea implosion


An animation depicting what presumably happened to the crew of the Titan submersible that descended in 2023 to examine the wreckage of the Titanic.  
"Simulations developed in 2023 suggest the implosion of the vessel took less than one second, likely only tens of milliseconds, faster than the brain can process information; there would not have been time for the victims to experience the collapse of the hull, and they would have died immediately, with no pain, as their bodies were crushed."
Tragic, but way better than death by asphyxiation.

Geometry puzzle


The diagram is NOT drawn to scale, so don't put a ruler on line x to measure the distance.  Figure it out in your head using simple logic and math.

17 February 2025

"Fracture pruning" (coronet cuts) explained


Last summer a favorite tree in the woods behind my house "broke" (left photo).  It was not an optimally configured tree because it was positioned at the edge of the woods and therefore "leaned out" to maximize its sun exposure, and the limbs on the south side were more heavily leafed.  The fracture occurred near the location of a woodpecker hole and could have been related to that or to some intrinsic rot.  I cleaned up the crown that fell to the ground, then debated what to do with the trunk.  

The black cherry (Prunus serotina) is one of the food plants for Tiger Swallowtails, and I was pleased to see that before its demise, this tree had generated a seedling near its base, which was blooming last spring (and where it will be log powers easier to find Tiger Swallowtail caterpillars than up in the inaccessible canopy.

But what to do with the fragmented residuum?  I did nothing last summer or fall because the broken trunk was a magnet for woodpeckers, who had enhanced access to various beetle larvae.  The visuals from the dining area window and back deck were irrelevant because it's a natural development, so no need to "clean it up" in that regard.  Then this past week I saw this photo (cropped for emphasis) and question:

"My town has done some cleaning up in a nearby forest but a few trees were cut like this. What is the purpose of cutting them like this?  The lowest ones were at about 2-3 meters above the ground."
The answer was in the marijuanaenthusiasts [tree-lovers] subreddit thread: "It's called a coronet cut. It's supposed to mimic a natural break and encourages natural decay to create wildlife habitats."  A couple more clicks took me to Dr. Stump:
When limb failure occurs naturally, these new features create a micro habitat for microorganisms and successive species- wood louse, earwigs, etc. These in turn, support birds and bats’ and other organisms with food and shelter.

Coronet cuts are designed to promote decay and therefore benefit microorganisms that live off the decaying wood. Whilst good for the local ecology, generally, this isn’t good for the tree. It prevents the branch sealing the wound and preventing pathogens from entering...  we tend to only employ fracture pruning on trees earmarked for monolith, veteranisation or severe decline. This allows colonisation of the tree by the local fauna to encourage improved biodiversity of the area – a feeding ground and bat/bird hotel.

If the tree is over a road/ bus stop, play area or near a dwelling, we may look to remove the tree for safety reasons. However, in parkland with low footfall, woodland or reserve, where risks to public health are much lower, this technique is a valuable tool in creating habitat for the wildlife.

I haven't figured out the "monolith" part (probably some reader will know) ("veteranisation" here) (and "coronet" probably because it's a "little crown") but my problem is solved.  The fractured black cherry stays upright.  

You learn something every day.

A tip of the blogging cap to reader Alexander, who realized that "veteranisation" is an active process of creating veteran-like trees.

Birch bark biting

"Birchbark biting (Ojibwe: Mazinibaganjigan, plural: mazinibaganjiganan) is an Indigenous artform made by Anishinaabeg, including Ojibwe people, Potawatomi, and Odawa, as well as Cree and other Algonquian peoples of the Subarctic and Great Lakes regions of Canada and the United States. Artists bite on small pieces of folded birch bark to form intricate designs.

In the 17th century, Jesuits sent samples of this artform to Europe, where it had been previously unknown. The practice remained common in Saskatchewan into the 1950s.

Many of the designs that are used contain symbolic and religious significance to the Ojibwe and other tribes. Though the practice almost died out, an estimated dozen practitioners are active in Canada and the United States, some of whom display the craft in contexts outside of their original intentions to show evidence of this ancient practice. Birchbark bitings can be used in storytelling, as patterns for quillwork and beadwork, as well as finished pieces of art. The holes created by biting are sometimes filled with coloured threads to create woven designs."
Here are some examples of birchbark biting:

16 February 2025

Res ipsa loquitur


From the website of the U.S. Department of Defense comes this pronouncement that official recognition of any group of people ("putting one group ahead of another") erodes camaraderie.

I find it somewhat ironic that I'm posting this the day before the entire government shuts down in order to honor presidents.

15 February 2025

John Milton, wordsmith

I had always assumed that Shakespeare* had added the most words to our modern English vocabulary. An essay in the Guardian today suggests that honor should be bestowed on John Milton:
According to Gavin Alexander, lecturer in English at Cambridge university and fellow of Milton's alma mater, Christ's College, who has trawled the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) for evidence, Milton is responsible for introducing some 630 words to the English language, making him the country's greatest neologist, ahead of Ben Jonson with 558, John Donne with 342 and Shakespeare with 229. Without the great poet there would be no liturgical, debauchery, besottedly, unhealthily, padlock, dismissive, terrific, embellishing, fragrance, didactic or love-lorn. And certainly no complacency...

Milton's coinages can be loosely divided into five categories. A new meaning for an existing word - he was the first to use space to mean "outer space"; a new form of an existing word, by making a noun from a verb or a verb from an adjective, such as stunning and literalism; negative forms, such as unprincipled, unaccountable and irresponsible - he was especially fond of these, with 135 entries beginning with un-; new compounds, such as arch-fiend and self-delusion; and completely new words, such as pandemonium and sensuous.
More at the link.   *Edward DeVere, 17th Earl of Oxford

Reposted from 2009 to provide more information on pandemonium, because I recently read this paragraph in the Booker-prize-winning novel Orbital:
"They watched yesterday the lunar rocket go cleanly into the night.  They saw the fireball create a corona that lifted like a sudden sun, the ripping of the rocket boosters, a tower of smoke.  Then the rocket forcing itself from the pandemonium of its launch and sailing up in effortless peace."
Milton would have loved that usage of the word to incorporate both noise and flames.  Our modern usage seems to focus entirely on chaotic sounds, as evidenced by its incorporation into rock bands and albums.  But for Milton, pandemonium was the literal capital of Hell, as depicted in this painting by John Martin:

"The name stems from the Greek pan (παν), meaning 'all' or 'every', and daimónion (δαιμόνιον), a diminutive form meaning 'little spirit', 'little angel', or, as Christians interpreted it, 'little daemon', and later, 'demon'. Pandæmonium thus roughly translates as "All Demons"—but can also be interpreted as Pandemoneios (Παν-δαιμον-ειον), or 'all-demon-place'.

John Milton invented the name in Paradise Lost (1667), as "A solemn Council forthwith to be held at Pandæmonium, the high Capitol, of Satan and his Peers" [Book I, Lines 754-756], which was built by the fallen angels at the suggestion of Mammon. It was designed by the architect Mulciber, who had been the designer of palaces in Heaven before his fall. (In Roman times, Mulciber was another name for the Roman god Vulcan.) Book II begins with the debate among the "Stygian Council" in the council-chamber of Pandæmonium. The demons built it in about an hour, but it far surpassed all human palaces or dwellings; it was probably quite small, however, as its spacious hall is described as being very crowded with the thronging swarm of demons, who were taller than any human man, until at a signal they were shrunk from their titanic size to less than "smallest dwarfs". It was also reputed to be made of solid gold."
Text from Wikipedia.

About those pennies... (updated)


Pennies are in the news today because Donald Trump has ordered that their production be terminated immediately.  That's fine, and is something I have advocated back in 2011 and predicted would happen "soon" back in 2012, when Canada eliminated their pennies.

Just to clarify the details regarding the cost and savings:
"Mint operations are funded through the Mint Public Enterprise Fund (PEF), 31 U.S.C. § 5136. The Mint generates revenue through the sale of circulating coins to the Federal Reserve Banks (FRB), numismatic products to the public, and bullion coins to authorized purchasers. All circulating and numismatic operating expenses, along with capital investments incurred for the Mint’s operations and programs, are paid out of the PEF. By law, all funds in the PEF are available without fiscal year limitation. Revenues determined to be in excess of the amount required by the PEF are transferred to the United States Treasury General Fund."
The mint makes money (both literally and figuratively).  Any current losses from producing pennies are overshadowed by profits from paper dollars, commemorative coins, proof sets, etc.

The embedded image is of a penny on the planet Mars.

Reposted to add some new information from Bloomberg:
Portland Mint, sells old pennies in bulk — 40,000 pounds (18,100 kilograms) at a time — to investors angling to profit on the copper that makes up 95% of the coins minted before 1983. A cache of one-cent pieces from Portland Mint with a face value of roughly $60,000 sells for about $120,000.


The wager is that those older pennies contain copper that would be worth about $180,000 at current prices. One snag: It’s illegal to melt a mass of Lincoln cents to harvest the metal. But penny hoarders gained fresh hope that their bets will one day pay off when President Donald Trump said this week that he ordered the Treasury secretary to stop minting the coins...

“Collectors and investors speculate the value of copper will go up,” said Ted Ancher, director of numismatics at Apmex, a precious metals dealer in Oklahoma City that has been selling copper pennies for years. “That is the primary reason they buy copper cents.”

Customers favor “the ’82 and earlier stuff,” said Dennis Steinmetz, founder of Steinmetz Coins & Currency in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The company offers 5,000 pennies – with a $50 face value – for $79.

“As you may know you may not currently melt these,” Steinmetz’s website says. “However if the government authorizes melting you will be way ahead.”
More at the link.

14 February 2025

Monarch dieoff caused by pesticides


The major risk to Monarchs is from habitat/food plant loss, but a recent article at the Xerces Society website emphasizes the dangers of pesticides.
On January 25, 2024, volunteers stumbled upon a devastating scene: scores of dead and dying monarch butterflies scattered across the lawn of a private property adjacent to the Pacific Grove Monarch Sanctuary overwintering grove in California. While volunteers periodically encounter both live and the occasional dead monarch on the ground near the grove, several details about this incident struck them as unusual. 

Most notably, the dying butterflies were spasming, a symptom commonly observed in response to pesticide poisoning. The number of butterflies involved was also alarming, as approximately 200 out of the nearly 2,000 monarch butterflies overwintering in the sanctuary at the time were affected. While some of the monarchs were scattered across the lawn, the majority were grouped in several piles parallel to the edge of a nearby building. These grouped butterflies showed no signs of predation or rodent caching, suggesting that something else was responsible for their unusual positioning...

The analysis by USGS revealed that the monarchs had been exposed to a variety of pesticides including multiple insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides. On average, each butterfly contained residues of 7 different pesticides in their bodies. Three extremely toxic pyrethroid insecticides were each found at or near lethal levels in the tested butterflies...

Given the timing, location, and profile of pesticides detected, it is likely that the monarch’s deaths were caused by an unreported or untraceable pesticide application by a local resident or business.
The article concludes with some recommendations, including these:
Do not apply pesticides to open flowers or when monarchs and other pollinators are active.   
Keep in mind that organic pesticides are not necessarily safe for monarchs and other pollinators. For example, the organic pesticide, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), is highly toxic to monarchs and other butterflies. 
Remember that pesticides applied to impervious surfaces (such as driveways, walkways, patios, and building exteriors) can wash into vegetated areas and contaminate plants and soil.  
Be aware that pesticides used to control “household” pests such as termites, ants, cockroaches, and spiders can also be deadly to pollinators and other beneficial insects.
Last summer crews of workers went through our neighborhood, offering to spray homes and yards for "pests." I watched as they used long-handled sprayers to treat walls ten feet off the ground, to kill ???what. 

How to trim a palm tree


Social media is full of brief reels of tree-trimming accidents, which are offered as humorous fare.  Arborists face obvious risks from falls and power tools, but I had not appreciated the fact that improperly pruning a palm tree can be lethal to the worker.  In this video an arborist explains that if the dead fronds are pruned from underneath, 700 pounds of fronds can collapse onto the body of the worker roped to the tree trunk, resulting in asphyxiation.  A related video is here.  Via the arborists subreddit.
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