Personal

Okay, not really random, nor for that matter ten. Nor even Friday, as the big event is tomorrow.

Here’s the first twenty songs of the playlist:

1. Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington, I’m Just a Lucky So and So
2. Lyle Lovett, Good Intentions
3. Al Green, I’m Glad You’re Mine
4. Patricia Barber, Lost In This Love
5. Emerson, Lake & Palmer, So Far to Fall
6. Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Never Can Say Goodbye
7. Loving Paris, Loco
8. Parliament, Mothership Connection
9. Yannick Noah, December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)
10. Gary Moore, Eyesight to the Blind
11. Maria Papadopoulou, Maskaremeni
12. Gipsyland, Salaam
13. Esther Phillips, Cry Me a River Blues
14. Either/Orchestra, No Me Molesta
15. Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros, Mondo Bongo
16. Alihan Samedov, Sen Gelmez Oldun
17. Cesaria Evora, Nho Antone Escaraderode
18. Billie Holiday, Comes Love
19. Madeliene Peyroux, Don’t Wait Too Long
20. Living Colour, Love Rears It’s Ugly Head

We hit ’em heavy right at the beginning; once Satchmo and Duke are finished, there won’t be a dry eye in the house. A few more lovey-dovey songs to set the mood, and then the tempo ratchets up and stays there. Never Can Say Goodbye is the first of many lesser-known covers of well-known songs; it’s a nice way to mix in some familiarity without stooping to cliche. And Yannick (not Noah — see comments) has a version of December 1963 that is really too catchy to be believed. Joe Strummer tops the list with three entries in the total of eighty songs; Mondo Bongo because it’s romantic and we’re rocking the Mr. and Mrs. Smith vibe; All In a Day because there’s a line in there about “East of Chavez Ravine,” where the actual wedding is being held; and the Clash’s Death or Glory because Death or Glory is awesome.

A keen eye will detect that we haven’t limited ourselves to conventionally romantic tunes, but have allowed the occasional foray into ironic detachment; that’s okay, the relationship is like that too.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go get married.

We outsource to Clifford the task of advertising the Categorically Not! events that KC Cole organizes at the Santa Monica Art Studios. Except for this Sunday, since I’m going to be one of the presenters, and I never shy from doing my own PR. The event (see blurb below) will begin at 6:30; everyone is welcome.

The topic is Mistakes! I think we’re all familiar with them. As the scientist, I suppose it’s my job to talk about mistakes made by scientists, and I’m not too proud to stoop to using Einstein as my example. He made some whoppers, and that’s not even including his personal life.

Any fun examples of scientific mistakes? Best would be those that teach some cute lesson about how true progress is impossible if you’re too timid to make mistakes, etc etc. Ideas are welcome.

Here is the blurb:

Blunders, boo boos, bloopers, errors, slip-ups, goofs, misinterpretations and misunderstandings. Everyone makes mistakes. In science, the notion of “mistake” is often itself misunderstood. Frequently, a “mistake” often turns out to be nothing more than a limited or skewed perspective. Or as Einstein put it, discovering a new theory is not so much like tearing down a house to build a new one as climbing a mountain from which one can see farther; the old “house” is still there, but is seen in a vastly different context. Mistakes in personal life and matters of policy can ruin lives; but “mistakes” in a humorous context can also make us laugh.

For our September 9th Categorically Not!, Caltech theoretical physicist Sean Carroll will talk about how mistakes are an inevitable part of scientific inquiry. From Aristotle through Kepler to Einstein, leaps in understanding have often been the offspring of wrong ideas, or right ideas that were suggested for the wrong reasons. (And what about Einstein’s so-called “biggest blunder”?) Sean is the author of a textbook on general relativity, lecturer in a course on cosmology offered by the Teaching Company, and a blogger at Cosmic Variance.

For a psychological perspective, social psychologist Carol Tavris will talk about her new book: Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why we justify foolish beliefs, bad decisions, and hurtful acts. She’ll describe the biases that blind us to our mistakes, make us unwilling to change unsupported beliefs, and allow us to think ourselves above conflicts of interest. She’ll also explain how the need to justify mistakes prevents us from realizing we might be wrong, ensuring we make the same mistakes again. The antidotes are the scientific method, and a sense of humor.

And as for sense of humor, the endlessly talented Orson Bean will talk about how mistakes are the basis of comedy. Orson won a Tony nomination for his role in Subways Are For Sleeping, appeared regularly on the Tonight Show with Jack Paar (and later Johnny Carson), and hosted numerous game shows (he is the last surviving panelist from To Tell the Truth). More recently, he played Dr. Lester in Being John Malkovich as well as numerous other film and TV roles. He is also the author of the book Me and the Orgone: One Guy’s Search for the Meaning of it All.

Jennifer tries to take the high road with her Valentine’s Day post. A little science, a dash of poetry, a bit of cute archeology.

But it’s all just a distraction to prevent people from noticing this picture in Nature. That’s one she’ll never live down!

Nor will I.

Peter Pan should have been a cosmologist. I mean, if you want to stay forever young, nothing puts things in perspective like contemplating our place in a fourteen-billion-year-old universe. You tend to take a long view of things.

But eventually, one must grow up and start acting like an adult. Did you realize, for example, that many grownups participate in an institution known as “marriage,” which apparently involves tying your entire future history (and let’s be clear about this — I fully expect to be immortal) to that of another person? Someone, obviously, who you better like an awful lot. And who better be able to put up with you. Trust me, you really don’t want to interact with me before I’ve had my coffee in the morning.

How in the world is one expected to find such a person, in a world full of interesting but flawed characters? Well, there’s always the blogosphere. Two kindred spirits, tapping away at their matching MacBook Pros, could find each other across thousands of miles in a way that was heretofore impossible.

All of which, in a fumbling and hopefully-charming way, is to say that it’s happened. I’ve fallen hopelessly for the beautiful and talented Jennifer Ouellette, science writer extraordinaire and proprietess of Cocktail Party Physics. I first plugged her blog (completely innocently! honestly!) back in March, and we met in person at an APS meeting, of all places. Best conference ever.

And, various cross-country jaunts and countless emails later, we’re engaged to be married. If it’s clear that you’ve found the perfect person with whom you want nothing more than to spend the rest of your life, you might was well get the presents, right?

Expressions of astonishment that I could have done so well by myself, and wonderings aloud concerning what in the world Jennifer must be thinking, may be left in the comment section. You needn’t tell me how fortunate I am — I know.