Comments on: Back To The Future http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/ Random samplings from a universe of ideas. Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:15:44 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Music and Language | Cosmic Variance http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-9536 Music and Language | Cosmic Variance Wed, 21 Feb 2007 07:25:53 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/#comment-9536 [...] Diana Deutsch has done some research on “tone languages”, for example - languages where what sounds to English speakers like single word actually takes on several different and often unrelated meanings depending upon the pitch/tone at which it is spoken. The example of Mandarin is given (which makes me reflect quite a bit on the bizarre misunderstandings I had from time to time in my walkabout last year in Taiwan - I like to try the language a bit, even if there is an alternative… this sometimes gets me into trouble), and it leads to fascinating insights when you couple it to music. She discovered, for example, that the speakers of tone language have a vastly greater number of people who have perfect absolute pitch as compared to people who speak non-tone languages. There are links to her work from the radio program’s website. There are also links to her collections of audio files of musical illusions, which put me in mind of the optical illusions discussion I blogged about not so long ago, and associated links. [...] [...] Diana Deutsch has done some research on “tone languages”, for example – languages where what sounds to English speakers like single word actually takes on several different and often unrelated meanings depending upon the pitch/tone at which it is spoken. The example of Mandarin is given (which makes me reflect quite a bit on the bizarre misunderstandings I had from time to time in my walkabout last year in Taiwan – I like to try the language a bit, even if there is an alternative… this sometimes gets me into trouble), and it leads to fascinating insights when you couple it to music. She discovered, for example, that the speakers of tone language have a vastly greater number of people who have perfect absolute pitch as compared to people who speak non-tone languages. There are links to her work from the radio program’s website. There are also links to her collections of audio files of musical illusions, which put me in mind of the optical illusions discussion I blogged about not so long ago, and associated links. [...]

]]> By: JayH Log » Music and Language - Good to know http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-9535 JayH Log » Music and Language - Good to know Sun, 29 Oct 2006 08:48:45 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/#comment-9535 [...] Diana Deutsch has done some research on “tone languages”, for example - languages where what sounds to English speakers like single word actually takes on several different and often unrelated meanings depending upon the pitch/tone at which it is spoken. The example of Mandarin is given (which makes me reflect quite a bit on the bizarre misunderstandings I had from time to time in my walkabout last year in Taiwan - I like to try the language a bit, even if there is an alternative… this sometimes gets me into trouble), and it leads to fascinating insights when you couple it to music. She discovered, for example, that the speakers of tone language have a vastly greater number of people who have perfect absolute pitch as compared to people who speak non-tone languages. There are links to her work from the radio program’s website. There are also links to her collections of audio files of musical illusions, which put me in mind of the optical illusions discussion I blogged about not so long ago, and associated links. [...] [...] Diana Deutsch has done some research on “tone languages”, for example – languages where what sounds to English speakers like single word actually takes on several different and often unrelated meanings depending upon the pitch/tone at which it is spoken. The example of Mandarin is given (which makes me reflect quite a bit on the bizarre misunderstandings I had from time to time in my walkabout last year in Taiwan – I like to try the language a bit, even if there is an alternative… this sometimes gets me into trouble), and it leads to fascinating insights when you couple it to music. She discovered, for example, that the speakers of tone language have a vastly greater number of people who have perfect absolute pitch as compared to people who speak non-tone languages. There are links to her work from the radio program’s website. There are also links to her collections of audio files of musical illusions, which put me in mind of the optical illusions discussion I blogged about not so long ago, and associated links. [...]

]]> By: Tales From the Industry, VII | Cosmic Variance http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-9534 Tales From the Industry, VII | Cosmic Variance Thu, 18 May 2006 07:39:36 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/#comment-9534 [...] Just before I flew off to hide in Taiwan for a month, in December, Oliver and I dashed off a quick letter to the Magic Theatre, together with a draft of the first act of the play, entering it for consideration for one of those grants. I forgot all about it for several months. [...] [...] Just before I flew off to hide in Taiwan for a month, in December, Oliver and I dashed off a quick letter to the Magic Theatre, together with a draft of the first act of the play, entering it for consideration for one of those grants. I forgot all about it for several months. [...]

]]> By: Cookin’ | Cosmic Variance http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-9527 Cookin’ | Cosmic Variance Thu, 02 Mar 2006 23:17:33 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/#comment-9527 [...] Serious blogs are apparently not supposed to be of the “what I had for dinner last night” variety. Do I care what people think a serious blog is supposed to be about? No! I can think of few things I care less about, in fact. So here is the ultimate “what I had for dinner last night” post. People asked for this, and so here it is….. (except it was not last night, but some nights ago.) It is the promised report on my noodle dish experiments, inspired by my wonderful Walkabout culinary experiences in Taiwan, described in several posts earlier (see e.g. here, here, here……) [...] [...] Serious blogs are apparently not supposed to be of the “what I had for dinner last night” variety. Do I care what people think a serious blog is supposed to be about? No! I can think of few things I care less about, in fact. So here is the ultimate “what I had for dinner last night” post. People asked for this, and so here it is….. (except it was not last night, but some nights ago.) It is the promised report on my noodle dish experiments, inspired by my wonderful Walkabout culinary experiences in Taiwan, described in several posts earlier (see e.g. here, here, here……) [...]

]]> By: The Search for Coffee | Cosmic Variance http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-9526 The Search for Coffee | Cosmic Variance Sun, 26 Feb 2006 05:17:16 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/#comment-9526 [...] Saturday night, and I’m doing a bit of blogging after clearing weeds in the garden. Shouldn’t I be getting ready to go out on the town and live it up a bit? Perhaps. I’ll see how I feel in an hour or so. Let me tell you a bit more about my Taiwan wanderings. I’m cheating a bit by borrowing (heavily edited and abridged!) extracts from one of the other blogs I keep…this one being a real diary that lives on my laptop, which I started while on Walkabout as a means of clearing my head (the point of the trip), by essentially talking to myself. [...] [...] Saturday night, and I’m doing a bit of blogging after clearing weeds in the garden. Shouldn’t I be getting ready to go out on the town and live it up a bit? Perhaps. I’ll see how I feel in an hour or so. Let me tell you a bit more about my Taiwan wanderings. I’m cheating a bit by borrowing (heavily edited and abridged!) extracts from one of the other blogs I keep…this one being a real diary that lives on my laptop, which I started while on Walkabout as a means of clearing my head (the point of the trip), by essentially talking to myself. [...]

]]> By: A Good Sign | Cosmic Variance http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-9533 A Good Sign | Cosmic Variance Fri, 24 Feb 2006 08:26:17 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/#comment-9533 [...] I went there (on Wednesday 4th January, during my Walkabout) to give a lecture (”Non-critical Strings and Matrix Models”) with more background material on the matters in the seminar I presented a week and a half before in Taipei (the one before I dashed for the bus to Tainan…). It was at the invitation of Chiang-Mei Chen. There I also met Otto Kong Cho-Wing. They are both high energy physicists, and I enjoyed my short visit. They were excellent hosts, and particularly gracious (and visibly happy to relocate) when, after we sat down to lunch at a Western-style restaurant they clearly thought I would prefer, I quietly suggested that I’d be very happy (hint! hint!) the Chinese-style one that they had briefly mentioned earlier. It was probably rude to have said anything, I know, but everyone got a much better meal out of it. [...] [...] I went there (on Wednesday 4th January, during my Walkabout) to give a lecture (”Non-critical Strings and Matrix Models”) with more background material on the matters in the seminar I presented a week and a half before in Taipei (the one before I dashed for the bus to Tainan…). It was at the invitation of Chiang-Mei Chen. There I also met Otto Kong Cho-Wing. They are both high energy physicists, and I enjoyed my short visit. They were excellent hosts, and particularly gracious (and visibly happy to relocate) when, after we sat down to lunch at a Western-style restaurant they clearly thought I would prefer, I quietly suggested that I’d be very happy (hint! hint!) the Chinese-style one that they had briefly mentioned earlier. It was probably rude to have said anything, I know, but everyone got a much better meal out of it. [...]

]]> By: Culinary Dreaming | Cosmic Variance http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-9532 Culinary Dreaming | Cosmic Variance Wed, 15 Feb 2006 06:01:15 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/#comment-9532 [...] That first meal was the first of several where I could really dig deep into the considerable and wonderful culinary depths of the culture. For the next 48 hours I’d not be just sampling things I could figure out how to order on my own…I’d have help (such as with that last meal) from a fellow food lover, my dear friend Huei-Shih Liao, who lives in the city. So I could discover the really advanced stuff, get things that aren’t even on the menu, and learn a lot about the food and history too. It was actually Huei-Shih I came to see in Tainan (having met her in Taipei back in 1997), and to meet her husband and young daughter. The fact that Tainan also happens to be a fantastic historic city with arguably the best food in Taiwan was just a lucky bonus. It was enough for me to see my old friend in her home country again. That was the highlight of the whole Walkabout actually. [...] [...] That first meal was the first of several where I could really dig deep into the considerable and wonderful culinary depths of the culture. For the next 48 hours I’d not be just sampling things I could figure out how to order on my own…I’d have help (such as with that last meal) from a fellow food lover, my dear friend Huei-Shih Liao, who lives in the city. So I could discover the really advanced stuff, get things that aren’t even on the menu, and learn a lot about the food and history too. It was actually Huei-Shih I came to see in Tainan (having met her in Taipei back in 1997), and to meet her husband and young daughter. The fact that Tainan also happens to be a fantastic historic city with arguably the best food in Taiwan was just a lucky bonus. It was enough for me to see my old friend in her home country again. That was the highlight of the whole Walkabout actually. [...]

]]> By: Tales From The Industry, IV | Cosmic Variance http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-9531 Tales From The Industry, IV | Cosmic Variance Mon, 06 Feb 2006 08:26:02 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/#comment-9531 [...] I was not working on my own, but collaborating with my friend the Los Angeles-based playwright (and my USC colleague from the school of theatre) Oliver Mayer, who I’ve mentioned in earlier posts (here and here for example). Well, it was an excellent experience. We had only a few weeks to exchange several drafts back and forth, as we were working to a deadline of the 8th December (I was going to go on Walkabout after that, and also, we were going to enter it into a competition with a deadline around that time….the latter was a long shot, given the notice we had to put something together…. I’ve no idea what happened with that). [...] [...] I was not working on my own, but collaborating with my friend the Los Angeles-based playwright (and my USC colleague from the school of theatre) Oliver Mayer, who I’ve mentioned in earlier posts (here and here for example). Well, it was an excellent experience. We had only a few weeks to exchange several drafts back and forth, as we were working to a deadline of the 8th December (I was going to go on Walkabout after that, and also, we were going to enter it into a competition with a deadline around that time….the latter was a long shot, given the notice we had to put something together…. I’ve no idea what happened with that). [...]

]]> By: More Tasty Morsels, or, Sorry PZ Myers! | Cosmic Variance http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-9530 More Tasty Morsels, or, Sorry PZ Myers! | Cosmic Variance Fri, 03 Feb 2006 21:06:56 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/#comment-9530 [...] Just so you don’t get into too much of a comfort zone with the wonderful tasty food I’ve been describing to you recently (see here and here and more to come) from my Walkabout, here’s a scene perhaps a bit less familiar (at least to the Western eye) from a street market in Tainan: [...] [...] Just so you don’t get into too much of a comfort zone with the wonderful tasty food I’ve been describing to you recently (see here and here and more to come) from my Walkabout, here’s a scene perhaps a bit less familiar (at least to the Western eye) from a street market in Tainan: [...]

]]> By: More Tasty Morsels, or, Sorry PZ Myers! | Cosmic Variance http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-9529 More Tasty Morsels, or, Sorry PZ Myers! | Cosmic Variance Fri, 03 Feb 2006 21:06:49 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/#comment-9529 [...] Just so you don’t get into too much of a comfort zone with the wonderful tasty food I’ve been describing to you recently (see here and here and more to come) from my Walkabout, here’s a scene perhaps a bit less familiar (at least to the Western eye) from a street market in Tainan: [...] [...] Just so you don’t get into too much of a comfort zone with the wonderful tasty food I’ve been describing to you recently (see here and here and more to come) from my Walkabout, here’s a scene perhaps a bit less familiar (at least to the Western eye) from a street market in Tainan: [...]

]]> By: Taipei 101 | Cosmic Variance http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-9528 Taipei 101 | Cosmic Variance Fri, 03 Feb 2006 04:44:19 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/#comment-9528 [...] Just when I came to the Empire State building I stopped and asked if anyone knew which was the world’s tallest building (by three of the four measures that count…so no silly communication structures…..ok Toronto?)… Actually, it did not take long to get the correct answer……after all, we are a major Pacific Rim city, and USC has a large number of asian students….. and I learned from a conversation with our President the other day that USC is one of the main US destinations for students from Taiwan. So yes. The answer was Taipei 101, which is in Taipei. I then realised that precisely one month before that very day - December 31st - I was still on my Walkabout (see also here) and I was at the top of that very building! I mentioned this to them. So it was appropriate to modify the example we were discussing to use Taipei 101 instead of the Empire State Building. [...] [...] Just when I came to the Empire State building I stopped and asked if anyone knew which was the world’s tallest building (by three of the four measures that count…so no silly communication structures…..ok Toronto?)… Actually, it did not take long to get the correct answer……after all, we are a major Pacific Rim city, and USC has a large number of asian students….. and I learned from a conversation with our President the other day that USC is one of the main US destinations for students from Taiwan. So yes. The answer was Taipei 101, which is in Taipei. I then realised that precisely one month before that very day – December 31st – I was still on my Walkabout (see also here) and I was at the top of that very building! I mentioned this to them. So it was appropriate to modify the example we were discussing to use Taipei 101 instead of the Empire State Building. [...]

]]> By: The Southern Reaches of Heaven | Cosmic Variance http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-9525 The Southern Reaches of Heaven | Cosmic Variance Tue, 24 Jan 2006 09:01:44 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/#comment-9525 [...] So you’ve got the idea by now (if you’ve been reading about my Walkabout) that Taiwan is wonderful for food. Taipei is said to be the most important city on the world map of Chinese cuisine for the sheer quality, quantity and variety. That may well be true enough….. [...] [...] So you’ve got the idea by now (if you’ve been reading about my Walkabout) that Taiwan is wonderful for food. Taipei is said to be the most important city on the world map of Chinese cuisine for the sheer quality, quantity and variety. That may well be true enough….. [...]

]]> By: Clifford http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-9524 Clifford Mon, 23 Jan 2006 19:12:32 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/#comment-9524 My glasses and their associated sunglasses do the trick. Mr bougainvilla (see <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/21/yellow-heaven/" rel="nofollow"> this post</a> and its comment thread) those of you who are wondering) has already been wrestled to the ground and has submitted. -cvj My glasses and their associated sunglasses do the trick. Mr bougainvilla (see this post and its comment thread) those of you who are wondering) has already been wrestled to the ground and has submitted.

-cvj

]]> By: alisa http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-9523 alisa Mon, 23 Jan 2006 18:52:24 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/#comment-9523 hi clifford! yes it me-good luck and don't forget the protective eye gear when attacking mr bougainvilla! (jeez do i have to sound like a mom all the time?) hi clifford!
yes it me-good luck and don’t forget the protective eye gear when attacking mr bougainvilla! (jeez do i have to sound like a mom all the time?)

]]> By: Wonderful Food on Walkabout | Cosmic Variance http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-9522 Wonderful Food on Walkabout | Cosmic Variance Tue, 17 Jan 2006 01:46:16 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/#comment-9522 [...] When I dream about food, a likely place to feature is Taiwan, where I was on my walkabout, as described earlier. One of the things I love about the place is the remarkable variety of high quality and delicious food which is available everywhere, and at a wide range of times of the day. I’ll focus on smaller places for now…. street food and small places selling noodles and dumplings. A typical street-food scene is something like this: [...] [...] When I dream about food, a likely place to feature is Taiwan, where I was on my walkabout, as described earlier. One of the things I love about the place is the remarkable variety of high quality and delicious food which is available everywhere, and at a wide range of times of the day. I’ll focus on smaller places for now…. street food and small places selling noodles and dumplings. A typical street-food scene is something like this: [...]

]]> By: The Curse Of The Scooter | Cosmic Variance http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-9521 The Curse Of The Scooter | Cosmic Variance Thu, 12 Jan 2006 02:55:04 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/#comment-9521 [...] So, as I was saying…. [...] [...] So, as I was saying…. [...]

]]> By: David http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-9520 David Mon, 09 Jan 2006 08:15:55 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/#comment-9520 I wholeheartedly agree with Clifford - Taiwan is great! Even the scooters have their positive side - they add to the liveliness and make crossing the street much more exciting than it otherwise would be. I wholeheartedly agree with Clifford – Taiwan is great! Even the scooters have their positive side – they add to the liveliness and make crossing the street much more exciting than it otherwise would be.

]]> By: Jet Lag | Cosmic Variance http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-9519 Jet Lag | Cosmic Variance Sat, 07 Jan 2006 15:25:45 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/#comment-9519 [...] I wrote in a previous post about how nice it is to be as many as 16 hours ahead of your normal timezone. It allows you to delude yourself into feeling that you’re sort of “in the future”, especially if you’re communicating via email or telephone, etc, with that “past” timezone. I can’t really explain very well why I like it. It’s just a fun feeling. I always like that feeling when I come to the “Far East”. It’s an uber-version of that feeling you have if you wake up early in the morning and get to work at 7:00am. You feel you’re getting a little head start. (Never mind that you’re snoring during the 4:00pm board meeting when they’re discussing who to lay off due to the budget cuts. You wake up and wonder why everyone is staring at you…..) [...] [...] I wrote in a previous post about how nice it is to be as many as 16 hours ahead of your normal timezone. It allows you to delude yourself into feeling that you’re sort of “in the future”, especially if you’re communicating via email or telephone, etc, with that “past” timezone. I can’t really explain very well why I like it. It’s just a fun feeling. I always like that feeling when I come to the “Far East”. It’s an uber-version of that feeling you have if you wake up early in the morning and get to work at 7:00am. You feel you’re getting a little head start. (Never mind that you’re snoring during the 4:00pm board meeting when they’re discussing who to lay off due to the budget cuts. You wake up and wonder why everyone is staring at you…..) [...]

]]> By: Clifford http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-9518 Clifford Sat, 07 Jan 2006 01:45:38 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/#comment-9518 Yeah...it's pretty dreadful. I've got lots to say about it...see you in a few days on that.... -cvj Yeah…it’s pretty dreadful. I’ve got lots to say about it…see you in a few days on that….

-cvj

]]> By: LambchopofGod http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-9517 LambchopofGod Sat, 07 Jan 2006 01:39:44 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/06/back-to-the-future/#comment-9517 Ah yes, the Curse of the Scooter. People like to drone on sentimentally about people in designer clothes getting about on vespas in Italy...but try sleeping there if your house is near a road! Maybe nice quiet cars are not so bad after all? Happy [Chinese?] New Year! Ah yes, the Curse of the Scooter. People like to drone on sentimentally about people in designer clothes getting about on vespas in Italy…but try sleeping there if your house is near a road! Maybe nice quiet cars are not so bad after all?

Happy [Chinese?] New Year!

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