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May 29, 2003
Elvis Stojko at Yerba Buena
Went to practice ice skating at Yerba Buena today. Who else would be skating at the same time? none other than Elvis Stojko, the world champion from Canada best known for his quadruple jumps. So while I'm puttering around, trying to skate backwards on one foot, Elvis is weaving around the rink at a high speed performing triple triple combinations, landing right in front of me and others. He did spins so fast all you could see was a blur. Most people couldn't seem to make up their minds whether to feel inspired or intimidated. He's just so good. What a treat!
Posted by elise at 2:16 PM
May 27, 2003
Film - Together
Saw a wonderful film tonight - "Together" - at a special showing. It opens this Friday at the Bridge Theatre on Geary in San Francisco. From the flyer:
Xiaochun, a 13-year old talented violinist, lives with his father in a provincial Chinese city. Shy and sensitive, the boy expresses his feelings through his music. Because his sweet-natured father wants the best for him, they move to metropolitan Beijing so the boy can take lessons that befit his talent. But Xiaochun's new world is unlike any he's known: he meets new and demanding teachers, discovers true friendship, and learns the ecstasy and pain of first love. Directed by Chen Kaige (Farewell My Concubine, The Emperor and the Assassin, Temptress Moon). In Mandarin Chinese; fully subtitled in English.
This is a touching, lovely film. Had me crying. I highly recommend it.
Posted by elise at 11:11 PM | Comments (0)
May 26, 2003
SF Butcher Shop - Fillmore & Haight
My uncle turned me on to a GREAT butcher shop in SF right at the corner of Fillmore and Haight. Dicey neighborhood. The sign on the awning didn't help either - "Lo - Cost Meat". But they get their beef from Harris Ranch and their egss and chicken from Petaluma. They buy direct and are able to pass on the savings to their customers. Harris Ranch flank steaks at $4/lb, and chicken thighs and legs at 79¢/lb. Other good butchers in SF are at Andronico's at 14th and Irving and Tower Market on Portola. But you'll pay twice as much. Also the staff was extremely helpful - offered to carry the 30 lb box of meat we bought out to the car.
Posted by elise at 12:06 AM
May 25, 2003
Cells that just won't die
Old news to some but new to me, much human cell research is performed on one woman's cancer cells that refuse to die. "Hela" cells, as they are known, have reproduced in the lab so much since their progenitor died in 1951 that there is much more biomass of the cells today in existance than there ever was of the woman. Apparently the cells do not contain the "death gene" that causes a cell to voluntarily die.
Posted by elise at 11:49 PM
May 24, 2003
Retro Desktop Patterns
Great RETRO desktop patterns for your Mac.
Posted by elise at 3:28 PM
May 23, 2003
Social implications of computing
Yesterday I attended an event at Xerox PARC honoring the 30th anniversary of the computer networking standard Ethernet. It was a true geek-fest, with most of the key people who created and brought to market Ethernet in attendance. Of interest to me was the panel discussion on the future of Ethernet and of computing. Dr. Rebecca Grinter from PARC challenged the panelists to discuss the social implications of a world in which not only are networks now Ad Hoc, in other words, devices naturally connect to other devices without users needing to configure anything, but also a world in which there is networking ubiquity. Everything is networked to everything else.
Continue reading "Social implications of computing"
Posted by elise at 1:14 PM
Dyslexia and Brain Research
One of the outcomes of brain research over the last ten years is the linking of dyslexia to how the brain recognizes phonetic sounds. When the brain is trained to more clearly distinguish between certain sounds, reading skills improve greatly.
Posted by elise at 12:13 PM
May 17, 2003
New neural pathways
Small triumphs. I learned how to do a backwards crossover today in my ice skating class. What's a backwards crossover? Skating backwards in an arc generated by picking up one foot and crossing it over the other foot. No big deal, unless you are 42 and decided 3 months ago that you wanted to learn how to skate and you are as terrified as I am of falling on your tush on that cold, hard ice. The old adage is that it is much harder to learn new things, especially those requiring physical skill, the older you get. This may be true, but it is really hard if you don't even try. And the older we get, the more reluctant we are to look stupid, and the less we are willing to take risks. I've been reading lately about the latest research in brain neuroplasticity. What they've found is that the brain continues to build new neural pathways throughout our whole lives, as long as we require our brains to perform new functions such as learning a new language or a new motor skill. Every week I go to my ice skating class and every week I get just a fraction better. What I learned last week, as difficult as it was then, is much easier this week. This must come from the brain creating stronger neural connections. And although children can pick things up faster, I have found that I'm learning as fast if not faster than most of the kids in the class because of my better ability to focus my attention. Focused attention also creates new neural pathways. Go brain go.
Posted by elise at 4:45 PM
May 7, 2003
Baby Sign Language
The latest thing for my friends with babies is teaching their babies to communicate with sign language. Apparently this works with babies from 6 to 18 months and can really help the child tell the parent what she needs.
Posted by elise at 10:54 AM
May 6, 2003
Where's the iPod recorder?
One of the things that surprised me when I started to get more into digital creativity (making movies, creating musical slide shows) was that there was no good MP3 recorder for the Mac. Apple, you say you make tools for creative people, where's this one? I don't need an iPod to take with me to play music (I mostly listen to CDs in my car or iTunes at my desk). I need an iPod recorder to take with me to record my grandmother's memories, so I can make a digital collage with her voice. I need an iPod to take with me to my singing lesson, so I can send my mom a personal happy birthday song. I don't want your canned music for my photos, I want my own voice, my own commentary. And I shouldn't have to jump through technical hoops to get there.
Update:
An add-on available this spring: iTalk
Update March 1, 2004:
Belkin announced an
iPod microphone adapter.
Posted by elise at 2:55 PM | Comments (10)