![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Impressions and digressions...
Dec. 5th, 2007 09:47 pmWhile moving stuff around yesterday, if memory serves, Galina and I watched what was undoubtedly a rerun of James Lipton grilling Robin Williams on Inside the Actors Studio. It was entertaining.
One of the questions Lipton asked of Williams had to do with the speed of thought, i.e., how fast the brain - or, more accurately, Williams' brain - could jump from idea to idea. Instead of trying to answer the question directly, Williams proceeded to do a three-minute improv act that was pretty impressive. But in the end, the question remained unanswered.
It's an interesting question. Curiously enough, the speed at which one thinks is one of the key themes of the book Chess Master At Any Age, which is still packed away in the basement somewhere. This is a "revisit someday" question.
* * * My mother owned a piece of furniture that was, to my mind, rather unusual. It consists of 20 shallow square drawers, and is apparently intended to house sheet music. Indeed, when I moved it to the basement a couple of days ago, we first removed about a ton of music from it, including the bound scores of several operas.
It occurred to me yesterday that this particular piece of furniture would be ideal to house the numerous small items that clutter one's life (especially if one is a techie). What I have in mind are things such as thumb drives, GPS, cameras, iPods, pen cases, floppy drive for the VAIO, and so on. I'm sure I have enough stuff like that to make it worth while hauling the thing back upstairs (and repairing one of the drawers, whose front broke off as a result of rough handling, aided by the fact that none of the drawers have vertical sides, only a front and a rear vertical).
* * * I've replaced three wall outlets in the den and one in the kitchen. This will allow me to get rid of several three-pin-to-two-pin adapters that've been used to plug modern appliances into the wall. Replacing two-prong receptacles with those with a third hole for the ground doesn't automatically provide a ground, as the outlets appear to be simply nailed to studs, but I figure (a) I'm really no worse off than before, and (b) I can run a ground busbar to each outlet - at least in the den - that will actually be grounded, so I'll actually have addressed the shortcoming.
* * * The cable service offers a 20-minute news program in French at 7 pm. With subtitles. In and of itself, that's no big deal, but it's interesting to hear a different take on the news, not to mention different news. (Who would have thought that "affirmative action" in French is the much more descriptive "discrimination positif"?)
One story I found interesting this evening had to do with the Brits using voice stress analysis over the phone as a way to catch unemployment cheats (something the French intend to copy to catch les faux chômeurs). Very few details of the scheme were conveyed, and while one would hope that the stress analysis is used solely to determine probable cause for further investigation, I wouldn't be terribly surprised to learn, given the state of civil liberties in the UK today, that such analysis is actually used to determine guilt.
* * * The concept of "favorite television shows" hadn't coursed through my neurons in quite a while, but I have to admit I've taken a liking to NCIS and The Closer. The jury is still out on NUMB3RS (which keeps flirting with real ideas) and Life (which I haven't seen enough of yet). However, I think I am quite far from actually rescheduling my life around the tube in any way.
* * * I spent another day moving stuff around. Among my accomplishments was using way too much lemon oil on the newly emptied built-in bookcases here in the den. Around dinnertime, I got to thinking that I'm really going to have to buckle down and get to work starting tomorrow, especially considering the loss of at least half a day spent taking Galina to the airport.
Not to mention that I am far from finished moving stuff around this place.
Cheers...
One of the questions Lipton asked of Williams had to do with the speed of thought, i.e., how fast the brain - or, more accurately, Williams' brain - could jump from idea to idea. Instead of trying to answer the question directly, Williams proceeded to do a three-minute improv act that was pretty impressive. But in the end, the question remained unanswered.
It's an interesting question. Curiously enough, the speed at which one thinks is one of the key themes of the book Chess Master At Any Age, which is still packed away in the basement somewhere. This is a "revisit someday" question.
It occurred to me yesterday that this particular piece of furniture would be ideal to house the numerous small items that clutter one's life (especially if one is a techie). What I have in mind are things such as thumb drives, GPS, cameras, iPods, pen cases, floppy drive for the VAIO, and so on. I'm sure I have enough stuff like that to make it worth while hauling the thing back upstairs (and repairing one of the drawers, whose front broke off as a result of rough handling, aided by the fact that none of the drawers have vertical sides, only a front and a rear vertical).
One story I found interesting this evening had to do with the Brits using voice stress analysis over the phone as a way to catch unemployment cheats (something the French intend to copy to catch les faux chômeurs). Very few details of the scheme were conveyed, and while one would hope that the stress analysis is used solely to determine probable cause for further investigation, I wouldn't be terribly surprised to learn, given the state of civil liberties in the UK today, that such analysis is actually used to determine guilt.
Not to mention that I am far from finished moving stuff around this place.
Cheers...
