Messing With Your Mind

Hi ya! How's it going? Got a clear mind? Good. Help yourself to a mug of java and a virtual treat while I mess with your mind a little. Thanks to cousin Robin in England for sending me most of these illustrations. Not surprisingly, I have always been an Escher fan. I added the last illustration.

Maurits Cornelis Escher created unique and fascinating works of art that explore and exhibit a wide range of mathematical ideas.

He was born in Leeuwarden, Holland in 1898, and when he was in school his family planned for him to follow his father’s career of architecture. However, poor grades and an aptitude for drawing and design eventually led him to a career in the graphic arts, specializing in woodcuts, mezzotints, and lithographs.

His work went almost unnoticed until the 1950’s, but by 1956 he had given his first important exhibition, was written up in Time magazine, and acquired a world-wide reputation. Among his greatest admirers were mathematicians, who recognized in his work an extraordinary visualization of mathematical principles. This was the more remarkable in that Escher had no formal mathematics training beyond secondary school.

His work eventually appeared not only in printed form, but as commissioned or imitative sculptures on public buildings, as decorations on everything from neckties to mousepads, and in software written to automate the reproduction and manipulation of tesselations. Reproductions of his work remain in strong demand, and he has inspired thousands of other artists to pursue mathematical themes in their own work. He is of course also much imitated.

As his work developed he drew great inspiration from the mathematical ideas he read about, often working directly from structures in plane and projective geometry, and eventually capturing the essence of non-Euclidean geometries, as we will see below. He was also fascinated with paradox and “impossible” figures, and used an idea of Roger Penrose’s to develop many intriguing works of art. Thus, for the student of mathematics, Escher’s work encompasses two broad areas: the geometry of space, and what we may call the logic of space.

Here are some Escher creations to mess with your mind...

 

1. The rod in the middle does not exist.

 

2. How many, 7 or 10. Count at the top and then at the bottom..

3. Is the door open to inside or outside? 

4. Round or square?

5. How many, 3 or 4?

6. Is this just one? 

7. Rare construction. Seems to me I built something like that once by mistake!

8. The center beam disappears, look from left to right. 

9.    2 or 3?

10. Waterfall...is the water falling?

Want to see more M C Escher art? Follow this link:

http://platonicrealms.com/minitexts/Mathematical-Art-Of-M-C-Escher/

Your mind may never be the same!

See ya, eh!

Bob

 

Paper Bag Speed Dating Craze Lets Personality Take Center Stage

G'day to you! How the heck are you? Tickety-boo? Great!  Help yourself to a freshly roasted and brewed mug of coffee and a virtual treat, why don't'cha? Here's a new spin on speed dating services...

While most people rely heavily on looks while speed dating, this new trend in London is forcing people to do the exact opposite – choose by personality.  ‘Paper Bag Speed Dating’ doesn’t allow you to see the face of the person you’re talking with. 

It’s basically a looks-free hookup party, where participants place a paper bag over their head. You still get to make quick decisions just like with regular speed dating, but the deciding factor is personality, not physical appearance.

Paper Bag Speed Dating is the brainchild of the people behind a new London-based dating app called LoveFlutter. They organised the event as a part of their #SayNoToShallow campaign. 

“Could you get a date using just your personality?” they asked, challenging people to attend their paper bag dating event. 30 women and 30 men signed up. They were given a paper bag each and were asked to personalize them using various designs – they could add quirky personal messages to serve as conversation starters.

 Later, they had to wear the bags on their heads. Some people did beautiful drawings, while others wrote stuff like “I used to be a spy,” or “Does my head look big in this?”

Remember the old joke about "S/He was so ugly, s/he wore a bag over her/his head!"

...and the follow-up, "S/He was a two-bagger. I wore a bag over my head in case hers/his fell off!" Now that was ugly .

Send me an ugly joke, okay?

See ya, eh!

Bob 

Science on the Cutting Edge

Well howdy! How's tricks? Moo-ve on over to the coffeepot and fill yer mug. Snag a virtual treat while you're over there, too. Then moo-ve on over here to the VIP table and sit yerself down. I have two moo-ving stories for you today...

1. On dairy farms across the country, cows bizarrely queue up, without prodding, to milk themselves by submitting to $250,000 robots that have recently become the salvation of the industry.

According to an April New York Times report, this advance appears to be "win-win" (except for migrant laborers watching choice jobs disappear) -- more efficient for the farmer and more pleasant for the cow, which -- constantly pregnant -- usually prefers frequent milking.

Amazingly, cows have learned the drill, moseying up to the precise spot to engage the robot's arms for washing and nipple-cupping. The robots also yield copious data tracked from transponders worn around the cow's neck. [New York Times, 4-22-2014]

2. Argentinian agricultural scientists in 2008 created the "methane backpack" to collect the emissions of grazing cows (with a tube from the cow's rumen to the inflatable bag) in order to see how much of the world's greenhouse-gas problem was created by livestock.

Having discovered that figure (it's 25-30 percent), the country's National Institute of Agricultural Technology announced recently that it will start storing the collected methane to convert it to energy.

In a "proof of concept" hypothesis, it estimates that about 300 liters of methane could power a refrigerator for 24 hours. [Fast Company, 4-15-2014]

Don't know about you but frankly, I can't see us having a methane-loaded cow standing next to our fridge all day long. 

See ya, eh!

Bob

Sip and Spit!

Well, hi there! I'm tickled pink (make that rosé) that you could find time in your arduous schedule to fit in a quick visit to the virtual cafe. How you doing, anyway? Ready for a mug of coffee and a virtual doughnut, muffin or pastry? Of course you are! Here is one place you don't have to 'sip and spit'!

California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo has a huge, 350-student "viticulture and enology" program, preparing its majors for an industry critical to the state's economy (and with a venerable international cachet) -- but puritanical state law continues to hobble it. 

Many in Cal Poly's four-year wine-making program must arrange for a fifth year -- after they turn 21 -- because, otherwise, faculty and administrators could be felons for "furnishing alcohol to a minor" when they assign students to taste their own class creations. 

The current California legislative session is considering allowing underage wine-making students to sip and spit. [San Luis Obispo Tribune, 6-20-2014]

Time for a change, methinks!

See ya, eh!

Bob

Pickups decked with fresh fruit and vegetables supply the households in Bangkok's suburbs

Hey! Hey! Thanks for clicking by today. Glad you could make it. Help yourself to a mugful of coffee and a virtual doughnut or muffin, why don't'cha? Say...do you remember when...? Read the following and see if it brings back a childhood memory.

If you live around a Bangkok neighbourhood and want to buy bunches of fresh coriander and spring onions and some pla tu, it will cost you about 60 baht ($2) from the local "veggie truck" as I call them. 

If you decide to buy it at a market far from the middle of town you’ll need at least 200 baht ($6) for transport and a spare two hours. 



These veggie trucks ply the suburbs and housing developments throughout Thailand and people wait anxiously for their arrival each and every day. You can see in the bottom right corner of the picture that there is a freezer hanging out the back of the pick-up. This will be full of meat, poultry and fish (well iced down, I might add).  It is one of the fun things about living in the kingdom! 

I remember the days when there was a similar truck that came around Beaconsfield, Quebec when I was growing up. That was from Holly Farm and sold fruit and veggies. I actually worked for them for a while and loved riding outside on the 'running board' as we worked our way up and down the streets. When was that, you ask? Hmmm...probably mid 50s (yikes!)

See ya, eh!

Bob

Indian Man Says He Can Help People with Ultrasounds from His Vocal Cords

Well there you are. Good to see you! How've you been? Fair to middling or totally in harmony with the flow of the universe? Got time for a coffee and a virtual treat? Of course you do! Hey, whatever ails you, maybe Jigar Shah can fix you right up...

A lot of people want to lose weight quite badly, but is there anyone desperate enough to try this Indian man’s weird technique? It appears there are.

Jigar Shah, from the city of Ahmedabad, claims that he can induce weight loss in a person just by using his vocal cords to emit ultrasounds. He also says that he’s helped cure several people suffering from hypertension, depression, asthma, aches, kidney failure and even cancer, using the same technique.

According to Jigar, his vocal cords are capable of emitting ‘ultrasound’, which he describes on his website as a ‘very high frequency massage that can penetrate up to 5 inches below the skin’s surface’. Conveniently, the frequency is not audible to the human ear. So when Jigar opens his mouth and says that he’s emitting ultrasound waves, there is really no way to tell if he’s just pretending.

His website also tries to explain how the technique works: “Leaving the surrounding tissues untouched, ultrasound therapy for spot fat reduction and weight loss targets the fat layer of the skin, forcing fat cells to release triglycerides which are then processed by the body’s natural fat burning process. The empty fat cells shrink and are expelled as body tissue waste. The results are less fat in the treatment area with visible inch loss and reduction in body circumference.”

...and you get a free bottle of snake oil with your first visit!

See ya, eh!

Bob

Engineer Builds Coolest Water Gun Ever

Hi there! How's it going? Glad you could find time to stop by today for a coffee and a virtual treat. OMG! Got to tell you about this. In Thailand, people celebrate 'Songkran' every April for up to 10 days - splashing water, dousing everybody with bowls of water, water pistols and water cannon. Some tourists even carry one or two cannisters of water on their backs. Well, now we have the ultimate water weapon...

Enter, an engineer who’s putting his degree to proper use! 27-year-old Londoner Alex Bygrave has used all his technical know-how to come up with the ultimate invention – an awesome Gatling water gun.

Believed to be the world’s most sophisticated Gatling-style weapon of its kind, the gun features a 10-liter water tank, six barrels and a 40-foot firing range.

Alex spent 50 hours designing and building the incredible water weapon from scratch, making use of 55 separate parts made of everyday objects. “I had to first break down the mechanics of how the Gatling gun worked, and then build it up using a mix of all sorts of components,” he said.

I wonder how long it will be before someone pirates the idea and they are on the shelves of stores throughout Thailand for Thais and other folks who celebrate the Water Goddess? 

See ya, eh!

Bob

Send me your ideas of how this new invention could be put to other uses...like watering your lawn, e.g.

Abandoned mall aquarium to be drained

G’day to you. How the heck are you? Me? Thanks for asking. Both Nong and I are drained after moving yesterday and then a combination of waiting around for the cable guy today (He showed up at 4:00 PM!) and emptying boxes and trying to shoehorn a three-bedroom house into a two-bedroom apartment. The Gypsy Taylors are on the move again. At least this time it is within the same country, same province and, would you believe, even the same city. We must be slowing down. 

Hey...help yourself to a mug of coffee and a fresh virtual treat, why don’t’cha?  Speaking of drained, remember, a couple days ago, I brought you the story of a fishtank in the abandoned basement of a building in Bangkok? Well, here’s an update...

The owners of the abandoned mall-turned-aquarium have been ordered by city officials to drain it of flooded waters and the thousands of fishy souls who’ve called it home for a decade.

One of Bangkok’s unofficial and bizarre attractions will come to an end after officials visited the exotic pond to test oxygen levels in the water, according to Pussadee Tamthai, deputy governor of Bangkok.

The natural aquarium was formed under the roofless, four-storey building near Khaosan Road when locals released several fish into its flooded basement around 10 years ago to control mosquitos.

Quickly, that bunch of fish reproduced into thousands, and fortunately for their numerous descendants, the Department of Fisheries will help relocate them to a suitable, natural home.

Meanwhile, the entrance of the building has been blocked, since Monday as city officials started inspecting the building’s structure whether it should be demolished. The process is expected to take around 30 days.

Aw dang! Now the locals will have to search for another spot to catch their supper!

See ya, eh!

Bob

It all sounds rather fishy to me!

Employee-Free Coffee Shop Trusts Customers to Pay for Their Order

Hi there! How're you doing? Enjoying the summer heat? Just be glad you are not in Mecca, Saudi Arabia where the temperature reached 49.4 C yesterday. You could fry a dozen eggs just carrying them to your car...never mind on the hood! Now that is toasty! Say...as a coffee aficionado, I though you'd be interested in hearing about this cafe...not that I for one am planning a trip anytime soon to Valley City, North Dakota though I am sure it's a great place and all that, eh. Don't have any plans to visit Mecca either, come to think of it, eh.

The Vault’ in Valley City, North Dakota, serves coffee, tea and pastries, just like any other coffee shop. But here’s the difference: there’s no one there to do the serving! The owners have complete faith in the honesty of the people who walk through their doors, so they haven’t hired any employees. 

“The Vault is self-serve,” declares the official website. “Everything is priced by hand, there are no price scanners. Just keep a track of your purchases and pay before you leave the counter area. There is a credit card reader and a deposit slot for checks and cash.” Customers simply walk in, make their own coffee, pay for it, and hang out for as long as they like.

It sure is a big gamble, but owners David Brekke and his wife Kimberly don’t seem to be too worried. 

When they opened the shop last October, it made complete sense to have people serve themselves and rely on the honor system. They have yet to break even, but that’s not because people are stealing.

One presumes there is someone around like the person who does the baking in case the coffee runs out or there are no more bacon-wrapped maple flavoured doughnuts. Hey...at my virtual cafe, you don't even have to pay. Can't beat that price. C'mon back tomorrow!

See ya, eh!

Bob

O Canada Beer Fridge

Hi ya! How's it going, eh? Did you watch Bob and Doug MacKenzie in "Strange Brew" to celebrate Canada Day? Nong was working and I was up to my yingyang in packing boxes getting ready for our Thursday move. Help yourself to a coffee and a virtual maple-frosted muffin while you watch the following video clip. Thanks to Audrey from Calgary who sent it to me. If you haven't seen it on TV, it's worth a watch...even if you aren't a hoser, eh.

Most of you have heard about the Molson's beer fridges that have been sent all over the world promoting Canada and Molson's, and where you had to show a Canadian passport to open it and thus release the beer. This short and funny video shows the beer fridge coming home.  A must see video for a Happy Canada Day!

The Beer Fridge - O Canada | Molson Canadia

See ya, eh!

Bob

Like, have a good one, eh!

The Dogs of Snore...

Sawatdee, krup! Hot days here are reminiscent of our years spent in Bangkok and Pattaya, Thailand. What a great time for an Ice Cap from Tims... or if you are in Thailand, that would be a Cafe Yen from Seven. Don't forget to grab a virtual treat to go with your coffee.

7-11 convenience stores (called ‘Seven’ by Thai people...emphasis on the second syllable ‘seVEN’) abound in Thailand and the entrances are great places for Thai street dogs to congregate. Nice blast of aircon whenever someone opens the sliding door to enter or exit. The occasional snack tossed their way is always welcome, too. Life is good!

Good things always come in pairs: wine and cheese, Saturday and Sunday, stray dogs and 7-Eleven.

The symbiotic relationship between convenience store and street dog seems so natural that no one thinks twice about it. It would seem strange to find a 7-Eleven without a crew of regular four-legged friends who eat, sleep and live there.

Apparently a little aircon and some handouts from passers-by is all a homeless pooch needs to get by. Not to mention a 23-hour sleep schedule.

Maa Naa Seven or “The Dogs of Seven” serves up eye-candy for dog lovers featuring a collection of random, cute 7-dwelling dogs.

Besides the adorable and sometimes, funny pictures, the page also gives shout-outs for stray dogs that need help.

Then again, tomorrow’s big thing will probably be 7-Goat fanpages. I have no idea how that goat got in with the dogs... but remember, goats have voracious appetites!

See ya, eh!

Bob