Time...beyond Pink Floyd

"The distinction between the past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion." So said Albert Einstein. Our universe is huge but finite. Some physicists believe that ours is only one of untold multiverses. In other universes, our laws of physics may not apply. For instance, time may run in reverse instead of forward or all of time may be occurring at once or in no particular order...or time may exist in a loop. As my mother used to say, "Think about stuff like that too much and you'll go crazy." But still, it's fascinating to think about. 

In a metal mood...

In 1997, squeaky-clean 50's icon Pat Boone released his foray into hard rock music, "In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy". What started as a joke became a really interesting mix of big band/jazz instrumentation with heavy metal melodies and lyrics. Reactions were immediate. Evangelical Christians were totally pissed at poor Pat and hard rockers dismissed his album as silly. I found the album quite interesting. Not only do I like big band music, I also like being able to understand the words to songs. Pat DEFINITELY enunciates the words better than most singers in metal bands. You might like to check the album out. If you don't want to go out and buy it, you can always check out song snippets on Amazon or I-tunes. Even if the album isn't your cup of tea, it SHOULD make you smile.

There's a huge percentage of people in America who believe that the Biblical story of creation is meant to be taken literally. It's great to live in an environment where people are all free to have their own personal beliefs. And the Biblical story of creation does portray a god that is truly an awesome being. Equally awesome (maybe more so), is the idea that in an environment where entropy is the norm, the universe has repeatedly gone through sets of "Goldilocks conditions" that led from the Big Bang to the way things exist today. For instance, conditions had to be perfect for: the Big Bang itself, the formation of stars, the formation of elements within stars (and exploding stars), the formation of planets, the appearance of life on our planet (and possibly others) and finally the evolution of intelligent life. Personally, I see a much more compelling argument for the existence of god when I consider the amazing complexity of the

universe transforming from chaos to order over a period of 13.8 billion years. But if you prefer the idea of a being that produces a different aspect of Creation every day for six days and then finds it necessary to rest on the seventh day, once again, we live in an environment where people are all free to have their own personal beliefs.

The thin line between genius and weirdo

Back in 1969, my older brother was a senior in high school and I was in eight grade. Much to the chagrin of my mother, my brother became a huge fan of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. He played the album "We're Only in it For the Money" constantly. As a boy of 14 I remember thinking that those were the weirdest sounds I ever heard. Now, of course, the late Frank Zappa is considered a creative genius. I guess that's just the way it is. From Leonardo da Vinci to Elon Musk, creative people have always seemed a little weird.

The origins of the concept of God

This is a cave painting in a remote part of a cave in Southern France. It was created about 15,000 years ago, when saber tooth cats and giant ground sloths and woolly mammoths still wandered the earth. It was made at a time before man became agrarian and still led the existence of a hunter-gatherer. The creature depicted has the face and beard of a human and parts from a variety of animals. Although no one can say how long early man may have been contemplating the idea of God, many archaeologists agree that this is one of the earliest attempts to depict a deity. To me, this begs the question: Did God create man...or did man create God?

Unemployment is the lowest it's been in years. Furloughed federal employees don't care.

380,000 federal U.S. employees have been "furloughed". 420,000 federal U.S. employees are expected to work without pay, including 42,000 members of the U.S. Coast Guard. Let's forget, for a moment, how you feel about building a wall at the Southern border of the United States. How would you feel about being unable to pay your rent and feed your family because two groups were in disagreement over a totally unrelated issue? How would you feel if you were expected to work without pay?

Adam and Eve

Is the Biblical account of Adam and Eve being ejected from the Garden of Eden really about humankind's transformation from hunter-gatherers to farmers?

Mark Twain said...

"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it."