Happy Spring everyone!  The northern hemisphere vernal equinox, when the sun passes the celestial equator going northward and the length of day and night are roughly equal, is today. 

Some of you may have learned on the mainstream news or slashdot this week that mathematicians on the Atlas of Lie Groups project have mapped the representations of split real E8.  See the article here on the MIT website.  Scott is at MIT now for the “unveiling” and subsequent conference.  He generated this map shown on the right on the website:

My understanding of this is virtually non-existent, but ask him about it if you’re interested.  His math buddies are making fun of him because of all the attention from the popular press.  My personal favorite is the comparison to the human genome project.  Anyway, I figured there was little to no chance you would hear about this from Scott, so there it is.

Any of you Apple-holics interested in this Apple TV?  I can be certain that each and every one of you has a strong opionion either way.  Let me know your thoughts.

Somehow, I’ve managed to miss that my friend Arvind has had a blog for the last few months.  Though he posts infrequenty (but not as infrequently as some others on my blogroll), he usually has something interesting to say, so check it out!  See the link on the right.

For those annoyed with the worst show on TV, “24″, senator and presidential hopeful Barack Obama will be on Larry King Live tonight on CNN.  9/8c

With great pleasure, I announce the opening of my friend Brad’s blog, “Serenity. . eventually: an effort to get to the bottom of Brad’s elevated blood pressure.”  The posts you see there are similar to the kinds of emails I’ve received from Brad over the years.  When Brad speaks, he’s a decent story teller.  But as a mutual friend of ours notes, there is an email-Brad. . a different Brad that loves to really ham it up to take aim at those that deserve it and also those that don’t (which produces the funnier of the two types of rants).  This is the Brad that has just started a new blog.   So now, those rants won’t just be lost in my and other’s inboxes.  They are will now be available for the enjoyment of all.  For those that follow it. . it reminds me a lot of Steve Crescenzo’s blog, Corporate Hallucinations (though as of this writing, he’s only got 2 posts up).  I’ve added the link to my blogroll.  Enjoy!

This past weekend I finished Stephen King’s book, On Writing.  The book’s been in the house for years and I finally got around to reading it (on the plane back and forth to Chicago–for Scott’s grandma’s surprise 90th birthday party).  I originally picked up the book after reading Michael Crichton’s Travels.  While everyone knows I more or less hate to travel, Chrichton’s book made me want to climb Kilimanjaro. 

On Writing was half memoir and half manual on writing.  This manual focused on what King knows best, fiction writing.  However, he did touch on some details on grammar and good writing practices.  Though I have no desire to become a writer, my chosen profession will involve heavy grant and paper writing.   Good, clear communication is never a bad thing. 

Interesting and informative.  Best of all, it’s quick reading and an easy distraction.  Recommended.

I’m now in the Stephen King zone and I bought his latest book, Lisey’s Story.  Don’t expect any comments on it any time soon.  I usually read 3 or 4 books at a time and this one is heafty.  I’m about 50 pages in and still interested.  I hope I like this one as much as I liked Bag of Bones.  We’ll see.

I finally finished Janet Fitch’s latest book, Paint it Black.  Her first was the wildly popular White Oleander, which I loved.  I put this book down so many times, thinking “no way am I going to bother reading the rest of it,”  but somewhere about midway through, it started sucking me back in. 

Once you come to terms with the fact that there is nothing more coming. . that it is only ever going to be about a girl dealing with the suicide of the man she loved. . .that’s when you can start to enjoy it.  At first, I was convinced that his death was only the first event you are allowed to see of a journey through the life of this girl.  But nothing more came. .then I flipped a little ahead and read a paragraph. . .the same thing was going on .. .then forward a few chapters.. .same old same old.  How can this possibly be worth reading? 

But I was surprised to find a little sweetness in the unlikely connection she makes with the mother of her boyfriend. . and a little sweetness in how she sheds the parts of her former self that now mean nothing.  If any of you have every thought during a movie or book that the treatment of death is shallow. . .this will certainly satisfy you.   This is how you think you would feel if you lost the love of your life.  This is agony drawn out on several hundred pages.

While it’s difficult to recommend this type of book to anyone, what I liked about it is how well you get to know Josie, the main character.  I can watch any movie or read any book with virtually no plot at all . .. as long as the characters are well developed.  I don’t want a description, but I want to get to know the characters through what they do and what they say.  This book is perfect for that. 

I didn’t love it. .but I liked it.  Not nearly as good as White Oleander, but much more real.. . much more raw.   

It looks like Chicago Bears running back Thomas Jones will be traded to the N.Y. Jets for a second round draft pick (37th overall).  So Cedric Benson will be our guy.  TJ rushed for over 1200 yards last season with some key 100+ yard games in the post season.  Hopefully we’ll get our money’s worth for him.  

Not only will we miss him, but I’m going to have to replace my navy Thomas Jones jersey for someone who’s still on the team.  Ideas anyone?

Right now, I’m favoring the Browns: Alex or Mike. 

Zodiac is the best movie I’ve seen in a long time.  Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey Jr. were all great.  While the running time is nearly 2 hours and 40 minutes, the intensity is high throughout and you don’t realize how long you’ve been sitting there until it’s over.  It’s a little bit gruesome at times and very suspenseful.   It has you often sitting on the edge of your seat but has just the right amout of comic relief. 

You get a great sense for what it was like at the time in San Francisco without them beating you over the head with it.  You also get a great sense for how the people involved in this case were consumed by it.  In my opinion, it’s a good enough movie that you won’t feel ripped off spending money to see it in the theater. 

Highly recommended.