brewbooks

2008-03-11T20:12:00.000-07:00

Hike List 2007
03 Mar Nisqually Wildlife Refuge with Bruce, Brenda, Linda, and Roger
March Elwha Riverwith Jim C
27 May Mount Si
31 May Mailbox Peak with John S group
02 June Welch Peak with NARGS
07 Jun Annette Lake with John S group
14 June Bandera with John S group
23 June Navaho Pass with Bruce D group
01 July Burroughs Mountain with Brian
05 July Granite Mountain
07 July Dege Peak
Sept Mount Rose with Clark

2007-05-11T06:28:00.000-07:00

Learning About Lichens

I haver tried to learn a little more about lichens, they interest me. I recently read Lichens by William Purvis. I found Antartic cryptoendoliths, organisms living within rocks to be fascinating.

Also of interest

Teloschistes fields in the Namib desert

USDA- Forest Service PNW Lichens and Air Quality

LICHENS, LICHENOMETRY AND GLOBAL WARMING

A Study of Lichens and Lichenometry

Here is a relevant article.
Cryptoendolith Communities in Antarctic Dry Valley Region Sandstones: Potential Analogues of Martian Life-Formshttp://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2003/pdf/1576.pdf
Rebecca L. Blackhurst, A. Verchovsky, K. Jarvis, M. M. Grady, Lunar and Planetary Science
This Lunar and Planetary Science article provides information about cryptoendolithic life (microbes living within rocks on the Earth's surface) in Antarctic sandstones. The purpose of the study was to use chemical and isotopic methods to determine what influence the cryptoendoliths have on the rocks they live in. These cryptoendoliths are predominantly lichen that live in the pores between sand grains in sandstone. The article features a color photograph of the cryptoendolith as well as an image and diagram of data.

2007-02-04T10:42:00.000-08:00

Booknotes 2007

Book Ideas

100 Top Books By 100 UW Authors some interesting books by University of Washington authors

Luis Alberto Urrea (From The Week 7 April 2006)
He is the author of The Devil's Highway and Then Hummingbird's Daughter.
He recommends Nobody's Angel by Thomas McGuane, The Stand, Desrt Solitaire, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard, THe Essential Haiku by Robert Haas, and The Motorcycle Betrayal Poems by Diane Wakoski. An interesting selection - several I alraady like, so my guess is that there is a fair chance that I will enjoy some of the others he has selected.

Against the Day by Thomas Pynchon - maybe???

Books Read by me

January
Truck: A Love Story (Audio) by Michael Perry
Population - 485 - Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren At A Time (Audio) by Michael Perry
Both of these are about Perry's life in New Auburn, Wisconsin when he returns to his hometown after 12 years of living in the "outside" world.

February
The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology (Hardcover)by Ray Kurzweil

April
At Dawn We Slept

May
The Last Season by Eric Blehm
Lichens by Wiliam Purvis

2007-02-04T09:13:00.000-08:00

Kavli Foundation

I read about the Kavli Foundation in an article published in the Seattle Times on 26 Nov 2006. The foundation has created 14 Kavli Institutes that are devoted to nanotechnology, neuroscience and astronomy.

In the nanoscience (nanotechnology) area there are three institutes:

The Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science

The Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at Delft University of Technology in Holland

Kavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology at Harvard University

In the neuroscience area there are three institutes:

The Kavli Institute for Neuroscience at Yale University, led by Pasko Rakic

The Kavli Institute for Brain Science at Columbia University. Directed by Eric Kandel

The Kavli Institute for Brain & Mind at the University of California, San Diego. Led by Nicholas Spitzer and Jeffrey Elman,

In Physics (including cosmology and astrophysics) there are 6 institutes:

The Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara

The Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology at Stanford University

The Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago

The Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics China at the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at Peking University

The Kavli Prizes of $1 million prizes will be awarded every two years beginning in 2008 in the fields of astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience.

"Some of the most fascinating scientific research today is being done at the nanoscale, the realm of atoms and molecules. I expect that the Harvard Institute will contribute significantly to our knowledge of nanoscale processes, and help to harness them for the benefit of humanity."
Fred Kavli - Sep, 2006

"I like to look far into the future, I think it's important for the benefit of all human beings."

"We don't try to tell the institutes what to do. We try to just select the very best science teams and institutions and support them in what they want to do, and we expect them to choose the very best course of action."

"I am a fully fledged optimist."
Fred Kavli Nov, 2006

Kavli made his money with Kavlico, which specialized in navigational sensors for the defense and aircraft industries. He sold it for $345 million to C-Mac Industries in 2000. He also has substantial Southern California real estate. He immigrated from Norway to the US in 1955.

2007-01-14T15:30:00.000-08:00

1001 Natural Wonders

Read a good chunk of this book by Michael Bright.

The distribution by country (about 147 countries are listed)

Countries I have visited
USA 114 (including Hawaii)
Australia 107
France 33
Scotland 26
England 22
Canada 17
New Zealand 12
Japan 11
Mexico 9
Italy 9
Austria 8
Switzerland 8
Germany 7
Ireland 5
Czech Republic 3
Belgium 1

Countries I would like to visit
South Africa 48
China 40
Thailand 34
Spain 33
India 26
Brazil 19
Chile 16
Namibia 13
Ecuador 12
Greece 12
Russia 11
Nepal 10
Costa Rica 10
Papua New Guinea 9
Norway 9
Sweden 9
Argentina 9
Tibet 8
Turkey 8
Iceland 8
Sri Lanka 7
Vietnam 6
Wales 6
Bhutan 3

Breakdown in the USA

New York
Niagra Falls
The Great Lakes

Alaska
Brooks Range
McNeil Falls
Mount Katmai
Bear Glacier
(and more)

Washington
Mount Rainier
Grand Coulee
Dry Falls
Upper Skagit River
Mount St. Helens

Oregon
Crater Lake
Multnomah Falls
Mountain Hood
Columbia River Gorge

2007-01-03T21:08:00.000-08:00

Coleman reading Flora of Pacific NW Burroughs 3
Originally uploaded by brewbooks.

Coleman reading Flora of Pacific NW Burroughs 3

Coleman carried a most impressive botanical reference manual up to 8000 feet, his signed first edition of:

Flora of the Pacific Northwest
An Illustrated manual
by C. Leo Hitchcock
and Arthur Cronquist

Burroughs 3 is one of my favorite spots to go on an early morning in August or September. It is a quiet spot with a quite of view of Mount Rainier. It is a good walk from Sunrise , maybe 3 miles and with ups and downs maybe 2000 feet of elevation gain.
It's one of the easiest ways to get to 8000 feet in Washington State.

2007-01-03T06:23:00.000-08:00

Shelf fungi at Green Lake, Mount Rainier National Park
Originally uploaded by brewbooks.

You can really see how this fungi pulls moisture from this decaying log.
Fungi play an important role o\in the ecology of this forest, a subject I am always trying to learn more about.

( see the top side )

2007-01-02T06:26:00.000-08:00

Nurse log, Quinault Rain Forest Nature Trail
Originally uploaded by brewbooks.

Nurse log, Quinault Rain Forest Nature Trail
Olympic National Park is home to a temperate rain forest , a very interesting ecosystem. A nurse log is a fallen tree which, as it decays, provides ecological facilitation to seedlings.

Nurse log is on the Quinault Rain Forest Nature Trail in Olympic National Park. This is a very short walk, but very worthwhile - one of a number short family walks in the area of Lake Quinault.

2007-01-01T22:09:00.000-08:00

Indian Henry's Hunting Ground and Patrol Cabin(this was our lunch time view, days like this are why I love being in the mountains). This was October, 2006

Indian Henry's Hunting Ground and Patrol Cabin
Originally uploaded by brewbooks.

2007-01-01T10:37:00.000-08:00

Carbon Glacier, Mount Rainier National Park
Originally uploaded by brewbooks.

On a December, 2004 hike with my friend Clark. THis used to be a very easy hike, about 3.5 miles and 1300 feet of elevation gain to this spot. With the recent (November, 2006) floods at Mount Rainier National Park, it is going to be much longer because the road to the parking lot has been severely damaged. It's always a great hike, I hope that the road is repaired, esle it will be a much longer hike.

This was taken at the base of the '>Carbon Glacier in Mount Rainier National Park, I believe the lowest elevation glacier in the continental US. It's also a glacier that hasn't receded much (unlike others in Washington state). It is covered with a lot of dirt and rocks, hence the name Carbon Glacier.

2006-12-25T13:00:00.000-08:00

Donald Keene at his Tokyo home
Originally uploaded by ionushi.

Reading what Keene has written makes me think that my efforts to archive photos and memories may be worth while. We can store vast amounts in the memory palaces of our brains, photos and some related words are the key that lts us unlock the rooms we seldom enter in our mind:

" Some readers of my serial have expressed admiration for my ability to remember so much that happened long ago. I, on the contrary, am more aware of what I have forgotten. Recently I had the occasion to take out some old photographs. They show me standing next to other persons, all of us smiling at the camera. I don't remember either the places or who the people were. I search for a clue, perhaps words written on a wall in a foreign language, anything that might reveal in which country the picture was taken. All that survives of these moments are some photographs without captions.

"I have often regretted that I haven't kept a diary. A diary would surely help me to recapture much of the past. But perhaps it is just as well to have forgotten so much. If I remembered everything, I would recall things that frightened me when I was a small child, teachers I disliked at school, friends who I thought had be

trayed me, people I loved who did not love me. No, it is probably better not to try to remember. I hope that this chronicle, for all its deficiencies, has at least suggested how one human being spent an essentially happy life." (Chronicles of My Life in the 20th Century)

2006-11-24T21:26:00.000-08:00

Favorite Movies
I have been trying to categorize my favorite movies for a few years.
Here is a link http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=8436158

2006-11-02T05:44:00.000-08:00

reality
Originally uploaded by Christina Lutze.

This is a very good idea, I really like the contrast between the older photo and the current one. This is a very creative photo by Christina Lutze.

I want to try this same idea with some of my photos.

2006-10-29T10:29:00.000-08:00

Interesting Rock on Crystal Peak
Originally uploaded by brewbooks.

I studied this rock in some detail while I sat eating my lunch on a warm sunny Saturday. It was interesting, it drew my interest, even with the great views of Mount Rainier in front of me, as well as Mount Adams, Mount St Helens, Mount Hood in the far distance, and Glacier Peak. I liked the cairn on top and the color.

Then I noticed it was covered with ladybugs, a surprising discovery on a late fall day. The more I looked, the more I found. I was surprised, you can see that it is cold up here at 6600 feet, notice the patch of snow on the right. (based on the heavy rain in Seattle the nextday, I am sure that this area is covered in snow.
www.flickr.com/photos/brewbooks/281930278/
www.flickr.com/photos/brewbooks/281931455/
www.flickr.com/photos/brewbooks/281936925/
www.flickr.com/photos/brewbooks/281937228/

Finally, it had an interesting variety of lichens.
www.flickr.com/photos/brewbooks/281936292/

So, finding an interesting rock is the reason why I like to get up early and go into the mountains.

i102806 058

2006-10-15T08:06:00.000-07:00

Thoughts on "A Hand Up Doesn't Always Require a Handout" by Muhammad Yunus
(In Wall Street Journal 14 October 2006)

Microfinance, providing small loans to people in need, is clearly a better path than providing a handout. As Mr. Yunus suggests:

"... giving someone a hand up doesn't always require a handout. The most important thing is to help people get back to work while letting them hold on to their self-respect. Microloans can do just that."

I absolutely agree with this concept, it is a way for people to retain (or get back) their self-esteem while improving their lifestyle. If I ever get involved in establishing a foundation (which I would like to do someday), the concept that the Grameen bank espouses is one that makes sense to me.

One other excerpt:

"Microfinance is one of the biggest success stories of the developing world, and proponents like me believe it could be just as successful in helping the poor in wealthy countries such as the U.S. The basic philosophy behind microfinance is that the poor, although spurned by traditional banks because they can't provide collateral, are actually a great investment: No one works harder than someone who is striving to achieve life's basic necessities, particularly a woman with children to support. Sadly, it is also true that in catastrophic circumstances, very little of the cash so generously given ever gets all the way down to the very poor. There are too many "professionals" ahead of them in line, highly skilled at diverting funds into their own pockets. This is particularly regrettable because very poor people need only a little money to set up a business that can make a dramatic difference in the quality of their lives."

URL for this article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116078038541792551.html

and here is a link on info about the Grameen Bank

2006-10-09T06:42:00.000-07:00

Breakfast in Bed Mary Cassatt
Originally uploaded by brewbooks.

This was one of my favorite paintings from when we visited the Huntington Library on 14 September 2006. Here is the explanation from the painting at Huntington Library, with some added hyperlinks

Mary Cassatt 1844-1926

Breakfast in Bed ca. 1894

Gift of the Virginia Steele Scott Foundation

Mary Cassatt became one of the first American women to achieve international recognition as an artist. Born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, she spent most of her life in France. There she became part of a group of artists lnown as the Impressionists , who pioneered the technique of using small brush strokes of unmixed color to capture the effects of light. They also tooks elements of daily life as their subject, rather than historical or mythological scenes.

Beginning in the 1880s, Cassatt depicted the subject which absorbed her for the rest of her career: the mother and child. She often dealt with tension between a mother's focused attention on a chaild and a child's desire to explore the world. In Breakfast in Bed the mother gazes at the child wrapped in her arms, while the child gazes out in to the room. By focusing closely on the figures, Cassatt draws the viewer into the intimate scene.

2006-10-05T21:27:00.000-07:00

Words I couldn't resist copying

So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell,
blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?
And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?

We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have you found? The same old fears.—Pink Floyd

2006-10-04T21:05:00.000-07:00

Notes on Science in the twentieth century: a social-intellectual survey
Goldman, Steven L., 1941-
[sound recording]

Lecture 1. The evolution of 20th-Century science --
Lecture 2. Redefining reality --
Lecture 3. Quantum theory makes its appearance --
Lecture 4. The heroic "old" age of quantum theory --
Lecture 5. A newer theory-QED --
Lecture 6. QED meets fission and fusion --
Lecture 7. Learning by smashing --
Lecture 8. What good is QED? --
Lecture 9. The newest theory-quantum chromodynamics --
Lecture 10. Unifying nature --
Lecture 11. Chemists become designers --
Lecture 12. Mathematics and truth --
Lecture 13. Mathematics and reality --
Lecture 14. The universe expands --
Lecture 15. What is the universe? --
Lecture 16. How do we know what's out there? --
Lecture 17. From equilibrium to dynamism --
Lecture 18. Subterranean fury --
Lecture 19. Solar system citizen --
Lecture 20. Science organized, adopted, co-opted --
Lecture 21. Techno-science and globalization --
Lecture 22. The evolution of evolution --
Lecture 23. Human evolution --
Lecture 24. Genetics-from Mendel to molecules --
Lecture 25. Molecular biology --
Lecture 26. Molecular medicine --
Lecture 27. Culture-anthropology and archaeology --
Lecture 28. Culture-history --
Lecture 29. Culture-linguistics --
Lecture 30. Society-sociology --
Lecture 31. Society-political science --
Lecture 32. Society-economics --
Lecture 33. Mind-classical and behavioral psychology --
Lecture 34. Mind-cybernetics, AI, connectionism --
Lecture 35. Looking back --
Lecture 36. Looking around and looking ahead.

2006-10-02T12:35:00.000-07:00

My notes from A New Kind of Science by Stephen Wolfram

2 October 2006

Preface
"Throughout the book my primary concern is with basic science and fundamental issues. But building on the foundations in the book there are a vast array of applications - both conceptual and practical - that can now be developed.

No doubt some will come quickly. But most will take decades to emerge. Yet in time I expect the ideas in this books will come to pervade not only science and technology but also many areas of general thinking." (p. xi)

I hope that I can come up with some small applications using this book.
Wolfram had many collaborators from many facets of science... a very complex list.
Would be worth examining the connections in this network sometime.

Chapter 1 The Foundations for A New Kind of Science
"I did what is in a sense one of the most elementary imaginable computer experiments: I took a sequnce of simple programs and then systematically ran them to see how they behaved. And what I found - to my great surprise - was that despite the simplicity of their rules, the behavior of the program was often far from simple. Indeed, even some of the very simplest programs that I looked at had behavior that was as complex as anything I had ever seen." (p. 2)

This reminds me of my own fascination on programming the rules for John Conway's Game of Life for the first time.

"... what secret is it that allows nature seemingly so effortlessly to produce so much to us that appears to us so complex." (p. 2)

" But how these componenets act together to produce even some of the most obvious features of the overall behavior we see has in the past remained an almost complete mystery." (p. 3)

The thought here is similar to what I have heard Leroy Hood talk about regarding systems biology.

"But on the basis if many discoveries I have been led to a still more sweeping conclusion, summarized in what I call the Principle of Computational Equivalence: that whenveer one sees behaviorthat is not obviously simple - in esssentially any system - it can be thought of as corresponding to a computation of equivalent sophistication." (p. 5)

"... for across a vast range of systems, from simple programs to brains to our whole universe, the principle implies that there is a basic equivalence that makes the same fundamental phenomena occur, and allows the same basic scientific ideas and methods to be used." (p. 6-7)

Chapter 2 Crucial Experiment

2006-10-01T22:06:00.000-07:00

Christopher Alexander Books
Originally uploaded by brewbooks.

Christopher Alexander has written (another) interesting series of books on architecture and design. I came across these in my fine local bookstore, Third Place Books of Lake Forest Park, Washington, USA. I could not help laying them out in an array.

I have just started Stephen Wolframs "A New Kind of Science". These books by Alexander seem a very good complement.

2006-09-29T06:06:00.000-07:00

Evolution of Boing Boing website
Originally uploaded by brewbooks.

I was very interested to look at how a website evolved over time. I chose boingboing.net as I had noticed it grow and thouhgt it would be interesting to see it evolve. Here's the result, using some excellent tools that are available over the web.

I also consider it a form of computer art, it really shows the evolution of the web.

2006-09-27T19:26:00.000-07:00

flicker_photos_lorenzodom_alltags_082206
Originally uploaded by brewbooks.

Here is a more complicated web graph
I noticed that lorenzodom does a lot of great tagging and documenting of his photos. It leads to more complexity and a more interesting photo collection
This is a snapshot of lorenzodom flickr all tags page
www.flickr.com/photos/lorenzodom/alltags/

He has several thousand tags amongst his 16982 photos as of 22 August 2006

For a comparison of complexity, see a graph of my alltags page (~ 1/4 to 1/5 as complex)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brewbooks/222876313/in/set-72157594248410291/

see www.aharef.info/static/htmlgraph/

Try a search for the tag websitesasgraphs to see some other very interesting patterns

I learned about this from r.rosenberger websitesasgraphs
www.flickr.com/photos/rrosie/sets/72157594152137978/

What do the colors mean?
blue: for links (the A tag)
red: for tables (TABLE, TR and TD tags)
green: for the DIV tag
violet: for images (the IMG tag)
yellow: for forms (FORM, INPUT, TEXTAREA, SELECT and OPTION tags)
orange: for linebreaks and blockquotes (BR, P, and BLOCKQUOTE tags)
black: the HTML tag, the root node
gray: all other tags

2006-09-27T12:19:00.000-07:00

2006 Quotations

"The only death you die is the death you die every day by not living."
quoted by Ted Perkins, attributed to explorer Norman Vaughn, in Seattle Times 5 Nov 2006

Ars Sine Scientia Nihil art without science is nothing

If we don't build it; we'll never need it.
(William Muholland, quoted by K. Hays August)

Don't drive 20 nails at a time, just one. (25 July)

2006-09-27T11:58:00.000-07:00

Notes from The H. Paul Rockwood Memorial Lecture: A New Kind of Science - Stephen Wolfram UC San Diego April 30, 2003

Intro by Terrence Sejnowski
Director Institute for Neural Computation

Wolfram Science Website

Cellular automata 1981

Rule 30

Rule 110

"Its sort of interesting to think about how we interact with the ultimate limits of technology. I don't have any doubt that there will be a time, potentially quite soon when it will be possible to capture all the important features of human thinking in pieces of sold-state electronics and no doubt things will get more and more efficent until everything is on an atomic scalle so that our processes of human thinking are just implemented by individual electrons whizzing around in lumps of something."

Computational equivalence

"... if everything was computationally reducible, then nothing could be acheived by history."

worked every day and every night for 10 years while CEO of Wolfram Research

NKS represents a Kuhnian paradigm shift.

Took 20 years to think about... so read it carefully. Read the notes.
Used Mathematica as notation.

Look at NKSX - NKS Explorer.

Summary of NKS
1. New areas of basic science.
2. Whole bunches of applications.
3. Conceptual directions.

2006-09-11T07:27:00.000-07:00

First Scanning tunneling microscope
IBM Research Zurich 1981
(Explanation from Deutsches Museum with wiki hyperlinks added by me)

Top view

Side View

The scanning tunneling microscope has given rise to new possibilities of investigating surfaces on the scale of individual atoms. Rather than "seeing" the atoms, the instrument "feels" them by scanning the surface line by line with a very sharp tip at a constant distance of a few atomic diameters. This distance is minimized in a feedback loop by the tunneling current tip and sample when a voltage is applied. The current is extremely dependent on the distance between tip and sample - the smaller the distance, the larger the current. Reducing the distance by only one-tenth of a nanometer (a millonth of a millimeter) increase the current tenfold. A tripod of piezoelectric rods allows very precise movement of the microscope tip in all directions. By applyingand removing a voltage, these elements expand and shrink, between 0.1 and 10 picometers (a billionth of a millimeter) per millivolt.

The STM measurement results constitute a field of scanned lines from which a three-dimensional image of the surface can be obtained in millionfold magnification e.g. by computer image processing.

Since the breakthrough of the first STM in 1981, numerous further developments and variations quickly led to a wealth of new knowledge in quite diverse research areas. The STM principle is generally considered a key in nanotechnology owing to its capability to image surfaces and investigate their properties on the nanometer scale.
and ultimately, even to change structures atom by atom. The first significant step in the latter direction was the controlled deposition of individual atoms in 1990.

The invention of the scanning tunneling microscope brough Gerd Binnig , a German, and Heinrich Rohrer Rohrer, a Swiss, both from IBM Zurich Reasearch Laboratory, the physics Nobel prize in 1986.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scanning_tunneling_microscope

See also:
http://www.deutsches-museum-bonn.de/ausstellungen/meisterwerke/2_5raster/raster_e.html

2006-08-15T06:16:00.000-07:00

Hike List 2003

30 Mar Tiger Mtn 1,2,3 alone
05 Apr Mt. St Helens with Roger
13 April Squak Mtn with Clark
22 May Mt. Dickerman with Roger and Matt
24 May Mt. Si alone
04 Jul Granite Mountain with Roger
17 Jul Kendall Catwalk With Weinberg group
19 Jul Snow Lake BD Group Bruce, Brenda, Susan
26 Jul Mt Adams with Roger
02 Aug Mt Rainier Burroughs 1, 2 with Bob Lopes
03 Aug Mt Rainier Burroughs 1, 2, 3 alone
11 Aug Mt. St Helens with Kevin and Norm
04 Sep Granite Mountain with Roger
06 Sep Park Butte and Railroad Grade BD Group
07 Sep Big Quilcene Marmot Pass Dungeness with Kevin J
27 Sep Mount Margaret BD Group
15 Nov Granite Mountain with Kevin H, Sarah, Kevin J, Charlie B, Jo M, John P

2006-08-15T06:12:00.000-07:00

Hiking Logs

Hike List 2008

Hike List 2007

Hike List 2006

Hike List 2005

Hike List 2004

Hike List 2003

2006-08-15T06:06:00.000-07:00

Hike List 2004
1. 28 Jan Heybrook Ridge, WA Nav Class Mountaineers
2. 10-11 April Hoh River, WA with Roger
3. 17 April Stevens Pass Cowboy Peak, WA Mountaineers
4. 02 May Iron Horse Trail, WA alone
5. 08 May Bandera, WA Joe M.
6. 11 May Royal Basin, WA Olympics with Gerard
7. 16 May Mt. Erie, WA Mountaineers
8. 31 May Mt. Washington, WA Joe M
9. 04 July Mt. Pilchuck, WA with Clark
10. 14 July Granite Mountain, WA Weinberg Group
11. 16 July MRNP Burrough Mountain and Fremont lookout, WA alone
12. 22 July Kendall Catwalk, WA Weinberg Group
13. 29 July McClellan Butte, WA Weinberg Group
14. 31 July MRNP Burrough Mountain, WA with NARGS
15. 05 August Red Pass and Lundin Peak, WA Weinberg Group
16. 07 August Teanaway Beverly Creek Iron Peak, WA BD group
17. 08 August MRNP Carbon Glacier Loop, WA with Jim and Matt
18. 14 August Excelsior Ridge (Baker), WA BD group
19. 21 August Higley Peak, WA Olympics alone
20. 22 August Quinault Nature Trail, WA (Olympics) with Mary Ellen
21. 22 August Kalaloch Nature Trail, WA (Olympics) with Mary Ellen
22. 23 August Beach 4 and Ruby Beach, WA (Olympics) with Mary Ellen
23. 28 August Mt. Margaret, WA (St. Helens) BD group
24. 25 Sept Sahale Arm (N. Cascades,WA)BD group
25. 26 Sept Liberty Bell base (N. Cascades), WA alone
26. 3 Oct Slate Peak, WA alone
27. 20 Nov Heybrook Lookout, WA alone
28. 21 Nov Lake Serene, WA alone
29. 04 Dec Padilla Bay, Washington Park, and Big Ditch, WA BD group
30. 05 Dec Washington Park, WA Mary Ellen
31. 18 Dec MRNP Carbon Glacier Loop, WA with Clark
32. 28 Dec MRNP Paradise snowshoe to Inspiration Point, WA with Tim, John, Larry
33. 29 Dec MRNP Paradise snowshoe Skyline, WA with Clark
34. 31 Dec Discovery Park, WA with Mary Ellen

2006-08-15T05:42:00.000-07:00

Hike List 2005
1. 01 Jan Mt Si, WA alone
2. 03 Jan Twin Sisters, WA Road with ME
3. 12 Jan Mt Vernon Trail to Washington DC with Chris Floyd
4. 13 Jan Mt Vernon Trail to Georgetown with Chris Floyd
5. 14 Jan Mt Vernon Trail to Alexandria alone
6. 30 Jan Arboretum, Foster Island, WA part with ME and alone
7. 12 Mar Noosa Heads, Queensland, Australia
8. 13 Mar Noosa Heads, Queensland, Australia
9. 19 Mar Noosa Heads, Queensland, Australia
10. 20 Mar Noosa Heads, Queensland, Australia
11. 26 Mar Mt Coot-tah, Queensland, Australia
12. 10 April Washington Park and Mt. Erie, WA (with ME)
13. 16 April Washington Park, WA WNPS John Martin
14. 21 April Little Si, WA Weinberg group
15. 14 May MRNP Ranger Creek Green Lake Chenuis Falls, WA BD group
16. 21 May Carbon River Glacier, WA with Clark
17. 28 May Goat Mountain, WA (Nooksack) BD group
18. 04 June Chiawaukum Creek Leavenworth, WA with Mountaineers Naturalists (Sandelin)
19. 05 June Swauk trail (off Blewett pass) and Haney Meadow, WA (with ME)
20. 12 June Hurricane and Klahane Ridge, WA Olympics (solo)
21. 18 June Mt Townsend Olympics WA BD group
22. 07 July Kendall Catwalk, WA (Weinberg group)
23. 09 July Snow Lake, WA with Clark
24. 15 July - Sleeping Giant Park, CT with Clark and Scott Johnson
25. 06 Aug Bogachiel Peak, WA group (BD Group Bruce, Brenda, Susan)
26. 09 Aug Kittatiny State Park NJ alone
27. 11 Aug Kittatiny State Park NJ with ME
28. 17 Aug Goat Rocks Beach ME beach walk alone
29. 18 Aug Barnard VT alone
30. 03 Sep Alpine Lookout, WA BD group(Bruce, Carol, Brenda, Kate)
31. 04 Sep Red Top Lookout, WA alone
32. 17 Sep Spider Meadow Larch Knob, WA BD group(Bruce,Brenda)
33. 01 Oct Ingalls Pass, WA BD group(Bruce,Brenda)
34. 08 Oct Goat Peak, WA (Bruce, Brenda)
35. 27 Oct Shipwreck Cove, North Island, NZ
36. 28 Oct Volcanic Plug,North Island, NZ with ME
37. 31 Oct Cathedral Cove, Coromandel, North Island, NZ solo
38. 13-15 Nov Routeburn Track, South Island, NZ with guides 3 days
39. 17 Nov Franz Josef Glacier, South Island, NZ
40. 18 Nov Fox Glacier, South Island, NZ
41. 20 Nov Abel Tasman, South Island, NZ
42. 24 Nov Mt. Cook, South Island, NZ (several hikes)

2006-08-14T07:48:00.000-07:00

A CLOSED MIND ABOUT AN OPEN WORLD
By James Boyle
Published: Financial Times August 7 2006 20:24

Over the past 15 years, a group of scholars has finally persuaded
economists to believe something non-economists find obvious: "behavioural economics" shows that people do not act as economic theory predicts.
Link

2006-08-13T17:19:00.000-07:00

Hike List 2006

1. 14 Jan Washington Park Anacortes Washington BD Group Roger Linda Rose Bruce Brenda
2. 04 Feb Santa Catalina Island California alone
3. 05 Feb Santa Catalina Island California alone
4. 11 Mar Twin Falls Washington Washington BD Group
Bruce Brenda Bob and Carl Maier
5. 22 Mar Black River Riparian Forest Washington (with Clark)
6. 25 Mar Black River Riparian Forest Washington (with ME)
7. 01 Apr Vantage and the Potholes Washington alone
8. 08 Apr Multnomah Falls alone
and Tom McCall Point Oregon with ME
9. 09 April Hood River Meadows Oregon with ME
10. 09 April Catherine Creek WA Washington With ME
11. 27 April Little Si Washington with JS group (12)
12. 30 April Langus Park and Spencer Island Washington with Jim C.
13. 06 May Duckabush Washington BD Group Bruce Brenda
14. 11 May Tiger Mtn Washington JS group (9)
15. 12 May Beacon Rock Washington - alone
16. 13 May Tom McCall Point Oregon
with ME, John, Catrine, and Oliver B.
17. 14 May Horsethief - Oneonta Falls, Oregon Loop with ME
18. 21 May Carbon River and near Windy Gap MRNP Washington with Jim C and Clark
19. 27 May Mt Wank Germany alone
20. 03 Jun Arthur Seat Edinburgh Scotland Alone
21. 05 Jun Aonach Eogagh Scotland alone
22. 06 Jun Hidden Valley Glencoe Scotland alone
23. 22 Jun Mt Washington Washington JS group John, Chuck, Steve
24. 24 Jun Mt Townsend Washington Olympics BD group
Bruce D, Brenda, Clark, Bob, Steve
25. 29 Jun Mason Lake Washington JS group John S., Chuck, Steve, Emily
26. 01 Jul Perry Creek Washington BD group Bruce Brenda Clark Susan
27. 02 Jul Table Mountain Washington Mary Ellen
28. 03 Jul Table Mountain Lion Rock Washington NARGS (Mary Ellen, Mary L, Sheila)
29. 04 Jul Table Mountain Naneum Meadow Washington NARGS (Mary Ellen, Mary L., Sheila)
30. 08 Jul Tronsen Ridge and Naneum Meadow Washington with Jim C
31. 09 Jul Iron Peak Washington NARGS
32. 15 Jul Blanca Lake Washington BD Group Bruce Brenda
33. 20 Jul McCllelan Butte Washington JS group
34. 21 Jul Iron Peak Washington Clark
35. 22 Jul Corral Pass Rainier Vista Washington (NARGS)
36. 27 Jul Red Pass Lundin Peak Washington JS group John S., Frank, Steve, Yuri
37. 29 Jul Corral Pass Washington Rainier Vista Clark and Jim B.
38. 05 Aug Sahale Arm Washington BD Group Bruce Brenda, Tom
39. 08 Aug Burroughs 1 and 2 MRNP Washington Mary Ellen, Cliff, Julie and Nathan
40.10 Aug Snow Lake Washington JS group John, Frank, Steve, Yuri, Chuck, Gary, Tim
41. 12 Aug Lake Ann - Mt. Shuksan Washington BD Group Brenda, Mary, Mary Ann
42. 17 Aug Dirty Harrys Balcony Washington JS group
43. 19 Aug Carbon Glacier and Curtis Ridge, MRNP Washington
BD Group Bruce, Brenda, Mary
44. 20 Aug Snow Lake Washington with Clark
45. 09 Sep Lake Stuart Washington BD Group Bruce, Brenda, Clark, Tom, Susan
46. 24 Sep Nisqually Wildlife Reserve Washington with Jim C.
47. 30 Sep Cowlitz Divide, MRNP, Washington BD Group Bruce, Brenda, Susan
48. 08 Oct Slate Peak, Washinton Pass Okanogan Washington , Mary Ellen, Caryn, Matt
49. 09 Oct Cuthroat Lake, North Cascade NP, Washington Mary Ellen, Caryn, Matt
50. 14 Oct Spray Park, MRNP, Washington BD Group Bruce, Brenda, Susan
51. 21 Oct Indian Henry's Hunting Ground, MRNP, Washington BD Group Bruce, Susan
52. 28 Oct Crystal Peak, MRNP, Washington BD Group Bruce, Brenda, Susan
53. 11 Nov Deception Pass, Washington, BD Group Bruce Brenda, Mary, Clark
54. 18 Nov Oyster Dome, Washington, BD Group Bruce Brenda, Mary, Clark
55. 9 Dec Wallace Falls and Lake, BD Group Bruce Brenda

Stats by place as of 18 Nov
45 Washington
4 Oregon
3 Scotland
2 California
1 Germany

Stats by group as of 18 Nov
17 BD Group
9 Mary Ellen
9 Alone
8 JS Group
5 Clark
4 NARGS
3 Jim C

2006-08-13T09:19:00.000-07:00

Countries I have visited
'>

your own visited countries map

2006-07-30T10:50:00.000-07:00

Crazy Horse Monument and Korczak Ziolkowski

Here are notes from 2 videos that my friend Clark loaned me about Crazy Horse and Korczak . I hope to see this monument some day.

Crazy Horse Monument link

Notes from "Carving Crazy Horse"

Korczak Ziolkowski worked it 1947 until he died 1982

"I am a storyteller in stone"

"... I said I'll carve the whole montains, then they knew I was crazy, nuts, wheels."
Sioux Chief Henry Standing Bear said carve it: "So the white man knew that the red man had great heroes also."

Those moneys that would comes here would funnel into a university, medical center

He arrived 3 May 1947 aged 40 years old, with $174 dollars,
He carved 741 steps, singlejacked blasting holes with an old Buda compressor,

"I'll tell you something I very, very, very seldom ever utter:
The world asks you one question, only one; The world asks you: Did you do the job? and in my book there's only one answer: YES
You don't answer I would have done the job if I had the money,
I would have done the job if people had been sympathethic or
understood what I was trying to do.
I would have done the job if I hadn't gotten hurt or crippled...
and God knows I've been crippled.
You don't even say I would have done the job if I hadn't died
I don't buy it, there's only one answer: YES.

When asked "where are your lands now?" Crazy Horse pointed and said:
"My lands are where my dead lie buried."
Korczak tells Crazy Horse's Story

"Drilling & Blasting, the Fine Art of Mountain Carving"

How to carve a mountain, step by step
1. Measure - Enlarge from scale model 34x, pointing machine, face 10,000 points
2. Survey Mountain
3. Computerize - fit model to mountain, how much rock can be safely taken off
4. Buffer Zone 20 feet thick
5. Confer Ruth Z - Korczak said, can't carve Crazy Horse from the grave.
Hardest decision, not going to carve horse's head, instead do face
6. Select Site Safety, geology, how much rock, can you clean up with machine
Move most amount of rock with least amount of explosives
7. Design Blast Drill pattern, tailor to site geology of mountain
Distance from grade, geology, dimension, vibration factor
Tonnage removed, pounds of explosives, number of borehole
Spacing/depth of boreholes, delays, manual or machine drilling
Personnel needed, Time to drill, weather, cost of the blast
> Ensure that blasters never take off too much rock
8. Prepare Site
9. Measure Site fix location and spacing of each borehole (laser level)
10. Equipment
11. Drill Holes The secret of good blasting is good drilling
pegmatite granite Casimir Z - Two kinds of rock, hard rock and heavy rock
12. Pick Explosives load and time, vibration models ensure vibration control
13. Load Holes
14. Seismographs geophones - vibration diagnostic to determine blast size
Permanent geophones (2) inside carving vibration @ finish grade
15. Survey Pinpoint boreholes, rock removal and vibration models, 3inch/sec
16. Photograph document drill pattern
17. Connect
18. Safety checks
19. Coordinate
20. Detonate
21. Inspect Site
22. Bulldoze one of most dangerous "Casimir and the flying cat"
"You got it in there, get it out"
23. Log Data
24. Follow up

2006-07-28T22:06:00.000-07:00

I really enjoy the 5-fold spiral symmetry of Aloe polyphylla Schönland ex Pillans. It is a plant to ponder. It's also becoming increasingly rare in it's native alpine environment in Lesotho.

I viewed this plant at Paloma Garden near Wanganui, New Zealand (South Island) .

Some other Aloe polyphylla photos