New York Travel Blog

Ok, ok, I can't stay away from blogging forever. I now have a travel blog about my time in New York (by the way, I've just moved to New York.) It's called New York Geek and you should go read it.

Xx

Hi

This is a blog. I used to write on it. I don't write on it any more. You can still find me on Twitter as tiedyeina, or elsewhere if you're lucky.

Bye now.

Xx

Skiiiing; a.k.a. A Week in 1984

Going to Alpe d'Huez with 7 lads was an experience even if I discount the skiing...but we'll start with that.

I'd never been skiing before, and hadn't realised one thing (which now seems painfully obvious); the only hard part is slowing down. Sure, there's a bit of technical skill in shifting your weight gracefully during a turn, or getting some good height on a jump; but the majority of my time was spent trying not to go too fast, and learning how not to die when that wasn't possible.

My development was therefore aided greatly by my willingness to fall down a lot, and my decision to treat fear as excitement ("it's all the same hormones anyway", noted a psychology researcher I met out there). Unfortunately this resulted in what I can now confirm is a cracked rib and a collection of interesting bruises. The goggle-mark sunburn and chapped lips I have no such excuses for - that was just idiocy on my part.

Skiing then, was fantastic - and I'm definitely going again, but when I do, I'll have all the proper gear. However, by gear, I don't mean a beautiful pair of skis or well-moulded ski boots. I mean clothes that were at the height of their appeal in 1984.

Because, being on a ski resort really is like living in the 80's. The only songs that were playing (at all hours of the day) from post-1987 were ones that would still probably have hit the charts if that was when they were released. 80's sunglasses and headbands were in abundance and everyone on the slopes looked on in envy when someone in neon-green salopettes (with spiked hair of a perfectly matched colour) walked by. We even had little CB radios with our own call signs (and the obvious, endless Top Gun quotes).

Now, to spend the rest of the weekend doing absolutely nothing ^^
Xx

Subjectivity

I hate racism, sexism, ageism and basically all forms of discrimination. This is not because I'm a morally reputable, virtuous person; I'm not. It's because these discriminations fly in the face of science, logic and that which is correct.

I care a lot about the right answer - be that to a scientific problem, an artistic ideal (the resolution to a suspended chord; the phrasing of a sentence) or even a societal interaction. There is always such an answer.

Here's why.

Proposition 1 - All is Matter
Every single thing in existence is made up of quanta. I refer not only to physical objects, but also to abstract notions and concepts. The word 'concept', for example, physically exists in a multitude of places: my brain; yours; paper and digital publications - to name a few.

Proposition 2 - Reality is Stateful
Every single thing in existence has a state space. Quantum Field Theory (and specifically, Quantum Mechanics) tells us that the eigenstate of an observable is fixed only at the moment of observation. However, a correct answer requires full knowledge of all variables. This paradox may be resolved once one considers that as the decision involves processing these variables, they must first be observed in order to be utilised, and therefore have a fixed state at the point of decision.

Lemma I - Objectivity Exists
Objective: adj; Of or relating to a material object, actual existence or reality; Not influenced by the emotions or prejudices; Based on observed facts.

Given that all is matter (proposition 1) and that all matter has a defined eigenstate at the point of observation (proposition 2), any problem may have an objectively correct solution, given a means of reaching such a solution and full knowledge of all variables at the point of decision.

Proposition 3 - Context is Everything
All problems exist only within the scope of their context. The most basic, seemingly clear problem - "What is 2+2?" only exists within the implied context "according to classical mathematics and assuming no unstated interference". Likewise, "can I trust this man?" is a question only valid in further implied context - the answer may be "yes" for medical advice and "no" for mechanical.

Conclusion
All problems have a correct answer. Given that problems exist only in their context (proposition 3) and that this context is entirely made up of observable matter (lemma I), all that is lacking is a means to process these observed states. Formal Logic provides a true conclusion given true propositions (et al.).

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The above, whilst interesting, is of little utility in the majority of scenarios. If nothing else, the Uncertainty Principle states it is physically impossible to measure all required variables in a problem in unity.

This brings us to the area of subjective logic, for which I can only recommend the Wikipedia article (written nearly entirely by Jøsang, who defined the field).

Subjective logic offers a means for obtaining the correct answer to a problem with uncertain or unknown inputs. It also allows for the representation of belief - however, if a problem is fully defined within its context this is already taken into consideration, so this aspect of subjective logic is of little interest to this thesis (though obviously may be used in formally defining a context).

The answer to a problem with uncertain inputs is no longer a scalar, but a probability distribution. This distribution may be arbitrarily skewed, and of any dimensionality. The maximum value of the distribution, or the entire distribution itself, may then be used in taking a decision (cf. decision theory) but a correct answer has been ascertained.

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We may now answer any question - from "what is 2x2?" to "is this art?" or "what brushstroke/chord/word should I use next?" correctly. Subjectivity does not imply an answer may not be found, just as objectivity does not imply that there is only one correct answer to any given problem. The objective reality of the full context of the problem both defines, and answers that problem.

I'm still not going to iron my own shirts though.

Xx

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Finally, of potential interest, a lovely (if not quite so scientific) rant on subjectivity in art criticism.

London Jazz Festival - Highlights

Naturally7 & Marcus Miller, hip-hop jazz fusion & intricate polyphonic free-jazz...and that's just some of the highlights from the fraction of the London Jazz Festival I managed to make it to in November last year. So that you don't shoot yourselves (or me) I won't review the lot, but here's some of the most fantastic stuff I simply have to share.

Look these people up. Find out when they (or similar artists) are playing live next. Listen to new, innovative music and realise jazz is alive; it didn't die with Davis & Coltrane.

Naturally7
If you haven't heard Naturally7 yet then, firstly - welcome to this blog, and secondly - you'll want to check out this infamous video. Every show starts with the thrilling "every sound you are about to hear is produced by the human voice alone"...but it would be fantastic even if that weren't true.

They're a vocal-play group from New York City, that started off singing in Church together and still show their evangelical roots in their shows; whilst also being complete rock-star showmen. Everything was perfectly choreographed, fantastically tight and still left room for improvisation and humour.

After a medley of Rapper's Delight; Saturday Night; Billy Jean and; Startin' Something there was quite literally a full five minutes' applause which the band couldn't stop (I'm sure we missed a song thanks to that). It wasn't all covers, but the overriding memory I'll take from that gig is hearing The Sound Of Silence in 7 part vocal harmony...amazing.

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Sorry, I went on a bit there, I'll try and trim it for the rest...

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_{Louise Golbey - the nicest person on the UK jazz scene}

Jay Phelps - find this man playing live, go and listen to him. A gorgeous sound from an old and battered trumpet, simply and elegantly composed.

Rebirth of the cool - an East London youth project. 2 DJ's, 2 rappers, 3 singers/choral backers and a jazz quartet from Trinity College playing together. I can't even begin to describe how fantastic this was; but this is a distinct, new sound I've heard fragments of elsewhere that I'm looking forward to hearing more of.

Louise Golbey - a soul/jazz singer with just the right mixture of poppy joyfulness, musical intellect and technical skills to make it in both the jazz and pop worlds, I see great things for this girl. A fantastic voice and superb backing band - all that's wanting is a bit more confidence and maturity before we hear her on Radio 1. Go listen.

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There's more, much more, that I'd love to talk about. Buy me a drink sometime and I will - for now though, I'll leave you with a show where I thought I'd see one of my favourite musicians, and ended up finding a new favourite instead.

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Marcus Miller (feat. Christian Scott)
The gig itself was actually just billed as 'Marcus Miller' (one of my favourite bassists), playing from the Tutu - the last album he wrote for Miles Davis.

"Miles never looked back, never played the old stuff", Marcus told us, "so the only way I thought I could do this tribute is if we got a whole bunch of new young musicians together to play it".

The support act (Gary Husband's Drive - also worth looking up) finished. Marcus walked on stage, and played an impossibly technical - but also beautiful - bass solo. A world-class drummer joined him, and a tenor sax player ran on to play a fantastically passionate and elaborate solo for at least a minute.

Christian Scott swaggered onto the stage.

There really is no other word for it, this was the most laid back entrance I've ever seen a musician make - of any standard and on any stage. The rest of the band looked at him, he waited. And waited. And played two notes. And paused.

The standing ovation was so loud I have no idea what happened on stage for the next minute or so. This is the best trumpet player I have ever heard, including any old recording. He's 24 years old and he's going to be massive - keep your eyes out.

Tenses - Help Me

I've been brushing up on my grammar recently (guys: I expect you to buy me a drink every time you successfully use that line on a girl in a bar), and I've come across a small annoyance I simply can't resolve.

Normally these things are simply a lack of understanding on my part, rather than a fundamental crack in a system - and any thoughts/comments would be appreciated:

"I will sit" - Future simple
"I am sitting" - Present simple progressive (whoops)
"I am going to Egypt in a couple of weeks" - ...?

Looks like the present, but extremely commonly used to indicate future plans. I can't even see any potentially implied clauses that would help.

So?

Avatar

Don't get me wrong, I thought Avatar was kinda fun, and had some nice 3D effects. The storyline, however, was a bit predictable - this is probably why:


_{Clicky clicky}

Here Be Dragons

Whilst fiddling with some knobs I recently came across this gem in Firefox, that shows whenever you visit "about:config":



I'm also a fan of:



It's the little things...

:)