Good and Bad Procrastination

NewMexiKen is reposting this item from a year ago today for those of you who haven’t gotten around to reading it yet.

An essay on Good and Bad Procrastination from Paul Graham:

So the question is not how to avoid procrastination, but how to procrastinate well.

There are three variants of procrastination, depending on what you do instead of working on something: you could work on (a) nothing, (b) something less important, or (c) something more important. That last type, I’d argue, is good procrastination.

Key quote: “What’s the best thing you could be working on, and why aren’t you?”

Music of the Hemispheres

“Listen to this,” Daniel Levitin said. “What is it?” He hit a button on his computer keyboard and out came a half-second clip of music. It was just two notes blasted on a raspy electric guitar, but I could immediately identify it: the opening lick to the Rolling Stones’ “Brown Sugar.”

Then he played another, even shorter snippet: a single chord struck once on piano. Again I could instantly figure out what it was: the first note in Elton John’s live version of “Benny and the Jets.”

Dr. Levitin beamed. “You hear only one note, and you already know who it is,” he said. “So what I want to know is: How we do this? Why are we so good at recognizing music?”

The New York Times

An intriguing article. One thing though. If you attend a concert by any well-known performer there are always those that react to the first few notes. But there is the larger group that doesn’t seem to catch on until the lyrics begin.

But more from the article:

Observing 13 subjects who listened to classical music while in an M.R.I. machine, the scientists found a cascade of brain-chemical activity. First the music triggered the forebrain, as it analyzed the structure and meaning of the tune. Then the nucleus accumbus and ventral tegmental area activated to release dopamine, a chemical that triggers the brain’s sense of reward.

The cerebellum, an area normally associated with physical movement, reacted too, responding to what Dr. Levitin suspected was the brain’s predictions of where the song was going to go. As the brain internalizes the tempo, rhythm and emotional peaks of a song, the cerebellum begins reacting every time the song produces tension (that is, subtle deviations from its normal melody or tempo).

“When we saw all this activity going on precisely in sync, in this order, we knew we had the smoking gun,” he said. “We’ve always known that music is good for improving your mood. But this showed precisely how it happens.”

Funny how they keep finding out that sex, drugs and rock and roll really are good for you. As if we didn’t know.

This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession

Storm of the century

The official NWS airport total snowfall as of 11:26 AM was 15.6 inches. Around town the total accumulation runs from 10 to 20 inches, generally more in the Northeast Heights and near the Sandia Mountains.

The highest total in the state, so far, is 32 inches near Santa Fe.

Update at 1PM: I shoveled some a little of the driveway just now to relieve the cabin fever. I’d say 20 inches is a fair tabulation, but it was snowing enough to cover the surface as I shoveled. The snow on the ground is surprisingly light considering the temperature is now above freezing. I could hear very, very few cars passing by on nearby Tramway (a major road). In fact, the most distinct sound was a train whistle — and the tracks are about eight miles away.

This is NewMexiKen’s eighth winter in Albuquerque. It’s the first time I have ever had the snow shovel (which migrated here with me from Virginia) off its hook in the garage.

Update 3PM: The clouds have lifted enough to show some of the mountains. So beautiful. A great day to love ‘Burque. Think I’ll go shovel another 40 square feet. 😉

World’s oldest new mom

MADRID (Reuters) – A 67-year-old Spanish woman became the world’s oldest new mother on Saturday when she gave birth to twins, a Barcelona hospital said.

The woman, who became pregnant after receiving IVF treatment in Latin America, gave birth by caesarean section, a spokeswoman at the Hospital de la Santa Creu i San Pau told Reuters.

Both the woman, from the southern Spanish region of Andalucia, and babies were in good health, the hospital said, although the new-borns had been placed in an incubator.

Reuters via Yahoo! News

Now that’s something to look forward to, eh ladies? Motherhood at 67.

A reminder

“Never respond to or click a link within any unsolicited email message from a financial institution — even your own — no matter how official it looks. …” Walt Mossberg

What Mossberg is advising is, that if it appears your bank has sent you an email and provides a link, DO NOT CLICK ON THAT LINK. It may be a fraud and you could be clicking on a link that takes you to a site that looks just like your financial institution but is not — and you will be giving away your ID and password.

If your financial institution notifies you about something, access the information directly from a web browser, not through the email link.

School daze

An attorney friend writes in his Christmas letter:

“Kevin’s punishment for academic enthusiasm in the type-A Montgomery County school culture is an AP English teacher who assigned the following essay: ‘Compare thoughts about art in Hamlet and Ode to a Grecian Urn. Your essay must include the three concepts of Montainesque skepticisim.’ Thank God Kevin stopped asking for homework help in middle school. . . . .

The new . . . varsity [baseball] coach was reputed to have run a conditioning drill that required sprinting intervals, with a penalty of an additional group lap if any single participant lagged behind. One kid stopped to puke, and the coach told them all to run another lap.”

Albuquerque newspapers and TV stations might as well not even have web sites

Here’s the lead news story at The Albuquerque Tribune as of 9:00 Saturday morning:

DENVER — The second major winter storm in a week pounded Colorado, dumping more than 2 feet of snow in the foothills and forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights and the closure of highways and government offices today.

Yesterday was the snowiest day ever in Albuquerque and a newspaper website is leading with a day-old AP story from freakin’ Denver.

And, at the moment, The Albuquerque Journal website isn’t even working!

Here’s the top story currently on KOB-TV’s website:

Flights at the Albuquerque International Sunport sat on the tarmac through at least 3 p.m. Friday instead of taking to the skies because of low visibility.

Friday was yesterday.

And KOAT:

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A moisture-packed, slow-moving winter storm is hovering over New Mexico on Friday, blanketing a large swath of the state with snow, causing airport delays, and stranding motorists.

Friday was yesterday.

The third local television station, KRQE, is more current.

Albuquerque has been flooded during 2006 with news and magazine stories putting it in the top ten for this or that. Here’s a nomination for another top ten: Worst media outlets.

El Tratado de La Mesilla

… was signed in Mexico City on this date in 1853. The treaty settled the dispute over the exact location of the international border west of Texas and gave the U.S. approximately 29,000 square miles of land — in brief, Arizona and New Mexico south of the Gila River — for the price of $10 million. In the U.S. it’s known as the Gadsden Purchase Treaty.

The Mexican Republic agrees to designate the following as her true limits with the United States for the future: retaining the same dividing line between the two Californias as already defined and established, according to the 5th article of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the limits between the two republics shall be as follows: Beginning in the Gulf of Mexico, three leagues from land, opposite the mouth of the Rio Grande, as provided in the 5th article of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo; thence, as defined in the said article, up the middle of that river to the point where the parallel of 31° 47′ north latitude crosses the same; thence due west one hundred miles; thence south to the parallel of 31° 20′ north latitude; thence along the said parallel of 31° 20′ to the 111th meridian of longitude west of Greenwich; thence in a straight line to a point on the Colorado River twenty English miles below the junction of the Gila and Colorado rivers; thence up the middle of the said river Colorado until it intersects the present line between the United States and Mexico.

Read the entire Gadsden Purchase Treaty.

Best line of a few days ago, so far

“Once our money came in the sober hues of American monumentalism: black, green, ivory. Now it’s decorated like a Ft. Lauderdale shrimp bar.”

Dan Neil on our new funny money.

“But truth is, with the imperiled state of the dollar, the seat of its solvency lies elsewhere, with those who are holding our debt. Our money should have the Great Wall of China on the back.”

A record setter

The snow has gone from picturesque to inconvenient to troublesome.

Yesterday Albuquerque officially recorded 11.3 inches of the fluffy, wet stuff, a one-day record. The old record was 10.0, set in 1959. And it continues to snow. I’d say, without anything “official” to measure it with, that it’s about 18 inches total at Casa NewMexiKen. What do you think?

Snow Accumulation Saturday Morning

I’m wishing I’d stopped at the grocery store on my way home from the airport Thursday evening.

December 2006 is the snowiest month ever in Albuquerque.

December 30th is the birthday

… of Bo Diddley. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee is 78.

Music historian Robert Palmer has described Bo Diddley as “one of the most original and fertile rhythmic intelligences of our time.” He will forever be known as the creator of the “Bo Diddley beat,” one of the cornerstone rhythms of rock and roll. He employed it in his namesake song, “Bo Diddley,” as well as other primal rockers like “Mona.” This distinctive African-based rhythm pattern (which goes bomp bomp bomp bomp-bomp) was picked up from Diddley by other artists and has been a distinctive and recurring element in rock and roll through the decades. (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)

Sandy Koufax Plaque

… of Russ Tamblyn. Riff, “a Jet to his dying day,” is 72.

… of Sandy Koufax. The most dominant pitcher in the game in the early 1960s, the man who threw four no-hitters including a perfect game is 71.

… of Paul (Noel actually) Stookey. Paul of Peter, Paul & Mary is 69.

… of James Burrows. The director of “Taxi,” “Cheers” and “Will and Grace” is 66.

… of Fred Ward. The actor (Gus Grissom in “The Right Stuff”) is 64.

… of Monkees Michael Nesmith (64) and Davy Jones (61).

… of Patti Smith. Punk rock’s poet laureate is 60.

… of Meredith Viera and of Matt Lauer. The Today show hosts are 53 and 49.

… of Tracey Ullman. She’s 47.

… of Eldrick Woods. Tiger is 31.

… of LeBron James. He’s 22 today.

The future for NewMexiKen’s grandsons

From a story in the Los Angeles Times:

Jorge Candelas spent eight months perfecting the look of his Imperial biker scout uniform.

He watched the “Star Wars” movies over and over, making sure the plastic armor on his uniform sat at just the right angle.

He endured teasing from his father, who calls him his “8-year-old who never grew up.”

But on Thursday, the 30-year-old computer engineer from Durango, Mexico, was marching proud.

He joined 200 fellow “Star Wars” fanatics at a Pasadena high school football field, trying to march in unison on the commands of an Army Reserve colonel in preparation for the 118th Rose Parade.

“‘Star Wars’ creator George Lucas is the grand marshal for 2007, which marks the 30th anniversary of the first ‘Star Wars’ film’s release.”

Accumulation matters

About 8-9 inches of snow so far at Casa NewMexiKen according to nearby weather stations.

Snow Accumulation

The light in the house seems so weird when the skylights (all 7 of ’em) get covered like this.

(Casa NewMexiKen is 6,070 feet above sea level, about 1,000 feet higher than downtown Albuquerque.)

[Update: I-40 closed eastbound. I-25 closed north to Colorado. Airport closed. Flights out cancelled since morning. Friends and their family’s cruise departs Miami tomorrow at 4PM. Earliest possible arrival time from ABQ to Miami: 5PM. 😥 ]

Best line of the year, so far

Crisis averted:

President Bush and first lady Laura Bush were moved to an armored vehicle on their ranch Friday when a tornado warning was issued in central Texas, the White House said.

The vehicle was driven to a tornado shelter on the ranch, and the president, Mrs. Bush and their two dogs sat inside until the weather cleared, deputy White House press secretary Scott Stanzel said. They were never moved into the shelter, he said.

Reached for comment, President Bush was quoted as saying, “Dagnabbit I was hopin’ for a ternadah. Them things leave me all kinds of brush that needs clearing.”

Also reached for comment, the troops said, “He’s got an armored vehicle? What the fuck?”

Shakespeare’s Sister

Nearly three hours

“President Bush worked nearly three hours at his Texas ranch on Thursday to design a new U.S. policy in Iraq, then emerged to say that he and his advisers need more time to craft the plan he’ll announce in the new year.” (Forbes.com)

Nearly three f***ing hours. The poor son-of-a-bitch. As Crooks and Liars put it, “You know, I spent more time wrapping gifts this Christmas than Bush has spent meeting with his advisers over a war that has lost us 3,000 troops and more than half a million Iraqis.”

Worst president ever.