Always Funny

Somethings will always be funny.

Exhibit A: farts

Exhibit B: Your Mom

Elegant Universe - Wrap Up

I finished the final two chapters of The Elegant Universe last night. I thought these last two chapters entitiled, "Reflections on Cosmology" and "Prospects", were an excellent ending to the book and would recomend them to anyone who might have gotten bogged down in the details of earlier chapters. By the authors own admission these final chapters often wax philosophical on some of the grandest questions of science including issues such as: the beginning of the universe, the nature of space and time, and the possibility of a true T.O.E (Theory of Everything).

A T.O.E must not only describe how the universe works and what the properties of its parts are but why these things are the way they are. It's kind of cool how when you start asking the "why" questions the lines of science, philosophy, and religion all start to bunch together. Pesonally I feel that the very notion that humans could conceive a T.O.E is a bit arrogant. The author never gives up this hope of knowing it all, but in one section he admits that this may not be a very realistic goal. My favorite quote from the section is, "Sometimes attaining the deepest familiarity with a question is our best substitute for actually having the answer."

Maybe I'm influenced by Aerosmith.."Life's a journey.. not a destination" or Tolkein " .. the road goes ever on and on", but for some reason I want to say that "Sometimes attaining the deepest familiarity with a question is better than actually having the answer". Who's with me? That's coming from the context of string theory science stuff, but like I mentioned earlier the lines are getting so close to religion that I'm starting to think about how that applies to my faith. If I think I know it all or become satisfied with what I do know then my picture is surely incomplete. If I was more familiar with the questions of my faith and the mysteries of God I think I would be constantly stretched to grasp ever more truth. I'm not sure where all this leads, but for some reason I'm liking the idea of placing more value on the question than the answer.

Dogtown and Z'Boys

I went to see Dogtown and Zboys last week and was completely blown away! This movie is a documentary about the Zepher skateboarding team (Z boys) and how they basically started modern skateboarding in a run down part of California (Dogtown) during the mid 70's. The movie is accessible to non skaters thanks to a great soundtrack and some good human stories, so I would recomend it to anyone. If you have ever loved skateboarding yourself then this movie is a must see! It took me back to my Jr high years when I'd go out and skate every single day. I also loved watching their "surfing" inspired style of skating which has been left behind by modern skateboarding. They really did bring the "soul" and "style" of surfing onto their boards. Today's skating has evolved far beyond these simple beginnings, but it's fun to watch this extinct style. Should be mandatory viewing for every little grom in the skatepark!