Youtube Videos

Here are a few YouTube videos: If you can't see them here go to http://www.youtube.com/user/shambezi.

'Going Rogue' for Palin (comment on the comment)

I should have cited my table on December 9th properly:

*Maranon, R., Supporters, protesters go 'rogue' in Norman, Friday, Dec 4, 2009, The Oklahoma Daily, http://oudaily.com/news/2009/dec/04/supporters-protesters-go-rogue-norman/

**Jones, J., 'Going Rogue', Friday, Dec 4, 2009, Norman Transcript,
http://www.normantranscript.com/archivesearch/local_story_338011547

Edit: Well more than that. I should have cited my sources.

Going Rogue for Palin (comment)

It seems that data of actual times that people waited in line, as well as the number of people that waited in line would be useful.

A table like:

Going Rogue Waiting for Palin

(Posted 12/05/2009, edited 12/06/2009)

Just How Long Does One have to wait in Line to Get Their “Going Rouge” book signed?

A few thoughts:

Consider a Problem, likely a differential equation with:

Boundary Condition1: At some time, the number of people in line equals zero
(edit(12/06/2009): Actually the time is unknown. We want to know this to answer the just how long does one have to wait problem. )
Boundary Condition2: At some later time, the number of people in line equals zero
(edit(12/06/2009): this is not really what we wanted to know, but it might be helpful if we wanted to model part 3 (see below))

**edit(12/06/2009) These two edits may mess up the boundary conditions somewhat. It looks like we might have to look at boundary conditions. Data gathering would be most appropriate, but would be cumbersome if it had to be done for each time the model is run (say the the famous person is changed). This would sort of defeat the purpose if the model was to be universal, and not require a whole lot of input and effort. I am thinking about statistics and using a normal variate somewhere (even for the mean of something), but I don't know how to do that off the top of my head. I think it might be doable, it might just take a little time. This sounds like a tough problem.

Solve this as a 3 part problem :

Part1: For the time before 7pm Thursday when the line is forming. Consider the rate of people joining per unit time. The line forms when the rate is zero. The rate may peak at some point.
Notes: This would depend on the population density about the location, the mobility of the population to Hastings (given obstacles such as traffic, road layout etc.), the proportion of people in the region that would go see Sarah Palin, and how crazy people are (i.e. what they perceive is a good time to go) which could depend on the popularity of Sarah Palin. The region’s boundaries would have to be defined as a point where the density of people going to see Sarah Palin would drop below a certain level. I suspect this may be modeled using catalytic reactor theory, and/or theory used by industrial engineers and concert organizers. (Suspected Keywords that come to mind: Catalytic Reactor, Industrial Engineering, Statistics, {Barnum and Bailey Circus, LiveNation, various production companies (theater, concert), The Walt Disney Company, Six Flags} (or at least people who consult for them), UPS, Wal-Mart, Mathematicians) Consider effects like mobile devices, and their dispersal of information that could discourage people from joining the line.

Part2: For the time between 7pm and the time when all the wristbands have been passed out.
Notes:
It is suspected that People will leave the line while additional People that will join the line after 7pm. Consider effects like mobile devices, and their dispersal of information that could discourage people from joining the line.

Part3: Time at which all the wristbands are all passed out, and people begin to leave.
Notes: This is a dispersion type problem. People may find out that the wristbands are gone in a manner like wave propogation, which could be much faster than a walk or a run. Consider effects like mobile devices, and their dispersal of information.

dance (cont.)

another thought.

you may not (or not at all possibly) need a computer to accomplish emulation.

think about an analog and digital watch. I am assuming all digital watches have a computer (or computer like thing) of some sort.

The Physics of Dance (cont.)

I just thought my thoughts about the computing power could be seriously flawed. It nearly suggested, or possibly assumed (can't decide) that the brain actually solves physics equations. And also it would have to run like a computer to solve these programs. When in reality, the brain may have no idea what a physics equation is at this level. And may in fact have method that is inherently faster than a computer program solving a physics program in the same way it is faster to get to the first floor by jumping off the balcony rather than walking or even running down the stairs. You get to the first floor by following both methods, but one is inherently faster than the other. In the same way, the brain may have some sort of mechanism that is inherently faster and requires much less "computing power" if you can even gauge it that way. In short, less effort to do the same thing. With less effort, the maximum speed that you could do it could change as well. With the stair analogy. It would seem that most people (given some constraints, like their own power maybe...I will stop thinking here) could not propel themselves to the bottom of the stairs to the floor in the same amount of time that it would take to reach the floor by jumping off the balcony.

Improving Singing with a Mattress

Owh, it seems that leaning with your lower chest against your bed improves singing. It helps the sound be a whole lot fuller and louder as well. This makes sense because I remember Marilyn Horne saying at a Master Lesson that actors wear some sort of leather support under their costume to support their diaphragm. I believe that this is the same sort of thing, that is leaning against your bed supports the diaphragm.

In contrast, I tried it without leaning against my bed, even standing up, and I couldn't get the same sound. The sound was not nearly as full, and not as loud.
Now if only there were more beds in places where one would usually sing.

A Scary Incident and the Physics of Dance

I was thinking about the Physics of dance. One of the things I was thinking about was how the body manages to shift its center of mass such that complex moves like balancing on top of another may be accomplished. And if I can recall correctly, all without thinking about it all to deeply. Forgetting that I was scared half to death, I noticed one thing while I paused to reach over to turn off my PC. I nearly fell off my chair and maybe badly injured myself, but I noticed that my body corrected very quickly saved itself from a fall once I realized I was in motion. I willed to save myself, and almost subconsciously grabbed the side of the desk I was sitting at as well as the windowsill that my head and neck was about to hit. So I wonder, does one will something to happen and just kind of do it? What I am saying really is, the brain has to some pretty complex calculations to save itself, or even move. And in order to save myself from falling I had to know to grab the desk and the windowsill behind me in about ¾ of a second (or so it seemed). This is a lot of computing power. I am thinking along the line of center of mass, movement in x,y,z coordinates (or any coordinate system really, in short, 3 space). All I really thought, or so I thought I thought, was to grab something. I don’t understand dance, but I would presume dancers sort of imagine themselves doing the movement and do them. This is curious. To actually solve the equations to maintain balance and move in the desired way would be daunting.

Note: I was watching: Off the Rails on Youtube during this incident

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96eqQNSOnj4&feature=PlayList&p=751E997B9C51754A&index=33&playnext=2&playnext_from=PL

Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin will be in Norman this Thursday. You should check it out.
>> http://www.koco.com/news/21611955/detail.html

The Three Musketeers

Sunday Nov. 22nd

I went to see the Three Musketeers on Sunday. Diversion, does everyone realize that chocolate makes one feel really funny? I mean, I ate a couple of chips, and there I go, back into that low rhythmic state. And then I get chills. It's kind of disconcerting. Could it be the sweater that I am wearing? But no, it happened earlier.

So yes, my conclusion is that chocolate is bad for maintaining a steady state on consciousness. In order to prove this, I will need to prove this, I will need to set up a hypothesis test with a 95% confidence interval, because we are never 100% confident about anything.

Okay, back to the Three Musketeers. I actually don't remember much, not that I didn't enjoy it, or even laughed a little. I have a theory for this, but I won't present it now.

Today I studied Statistics.

Backdated - 11 - 22 - 2009

I had a great time playing (or almost playing) capture the flag on the north oval of the University of Oklahoma campus. All systems were go until we found out that a fight had broken out in the union parking garage. Apparently there was a party that simply degenerated. An eyewitness said that Asp street was simply lined with cop cars. Sirens were blaring, people were shouting, and whistles were blowing, and you could see cops crowding the garage. Around the time that the group that I was with left the north oval a K9 unit arrived.

I had a great time playing (or almost playing) capture the flag on the north oval of the University of Oklahoma campus. All systems were go until we found out that a fight had broken out in the union parking garage. Apparently there was a party that simply degenerated. An eyewitness said that Asp street was simply lined with cop cars. Sirens were blaring, people were shouting, and whistles were blowing, and you could see cops crowding the garage. Around the time that the group that I was with left the north oval, a K9 unit arrived. Alas we decided to take our fun elsewhere. We were afraid of a stray bullet if it escalated to that, or just being too close to the action and somehow being seen as being involved. Kinda scary. I' m sure that the Oklahoma Daily will have something about it on Monday, or maybe the week after since Thanksgiving is next week.

I also watched the movie Accepted, which included all the fun of the South Harmon Institute of Technology. It was a really funny movie actually, and it really challenged the status quo. It tries to answer the simple question, "Why do we go to College Anyways?" Why do we try to get high paying jobs and lead lives that are nothing like we originally envisioned when we were younger? Why do we let a curriculum define who we are instead of allowing what we really want in life define who we are?

Alright, back to the fight, er, or after the fight. We decided on basketball and throwing the football. At which time I decided to leave, because I have choir tomorrow morning: bright and early at 9am. It should be fun though.

I also saw Marilyn Horne on Friday night give a public master class. There were some amazing singers from the school of music who were critiqued. Mrs. Horne is actually really funny in her critique in addition to being really famous. However, I never knew about her until I saw in the Oklahoma Daily that she was coming. It was a pleasant surprise. Anywho, she’ll be back in April. If she does something public, maybe we (those interested) could go together.

The Laramie Project

The Laramie Project was actually really good. Goodnight today (soon), hello tomorrow.

Events of the Week (11/9/ -

This week has been interesting. I checked out the Disney College Program. Company reps were on campus midweek, and gave presentations in addition to staffing a booth. It sounded interesting. I was interested in it because one of my dreams is to be a Special Effects Expert (edit: had to search for the name). This program may or may not be the best route to take, but there are a lot of other programs offered by Disney as well. Working in a studio backlot would be awesome. I'm thinking something like Mythbusters. The only worry that I have is doing such a thing may set me back and make taking other engineering jobs more difficult. They'd be like, why did you do that? And secondly, do I have that specific skill set? Much to think about and explore.

I also watched part of the show Band of Brothers. While I don't have the jargon to describe it (I wish to), I enjoyed it. From my experience, it was well done.

Proceeding to the OU vs. Texas A&M game, I went to a tailgate party. It was good to get out, in addition to see people that I knew.

Tonight I plan on checking out a small production called the Laramie Project.

Stone Temple Pilots - Post Concert Review

I enjoyed the Stone Temple Pilots on October, 25th at Lucky Star Casino in Concho, OK. It was a pleasant surprise as it was totally last minute. Much thanks to the friend who took me there. I'm not quite sure how the band feels about photos or video, so I will refrain from that for now. Here is a photo of right before the concert. I hope this is legit.




As you can see it wasn't the U2 show in terms of set up, nor in size of venue. But nevertheless, STP is a great band, and they have put on arena sized performances like U2. These Grammy Award winning artists put out songs like "Interstate Love Song", "Plush", and "Sex Type Thing". They were huge in the 90s (Wiki).

U2 & Black Eyed Peas - Post Concert Review

Overall, the U2 performance was awesome. In terms of impressiveness of stage design, it is the best that I have ever seen. It sounds like I have been to a lot of concerts, right? Well not as a much as some people. Overall, from what I have read “the Claw” is a one of a kind sort of thing. And I might hazard to guess, that it cannot be topped easily. The lights were amazing!

The band did a great job making use of the space. It seemed that all members except for Larry Mullen Jr. (the drummer) were out and about, likely using some sort of wireless mechanism to keep with the tunes. To me most of the music seemed good. The music is still growing on me. The lyrics even more so (they are vague, but so deep at the same time).

U2 and the Black Eyed Peas practicing and an Irish guy doing a sound check really made it the pre-concert scene intense.

I not a stage designer by any means, so I really cannot comment too much about it. The only thing that I can think of to top this show is to have Bono wear white, and have something like Microvisions’ PicoP projector give him different outfits. See: http://www.microvision.com/pico_projector_displays/. They did laser projection I think, but it was not as complicated as conceivably possible. At least as far as my engineering training tells me.

The Black Eyed Peas also performed as special guests. I remember liking their songs, "I've Gotta Feeling" and "Where is the Love", so it was a treat to see them live. After researching the B.E.P, I discovered that Fergie was part of them. I had heard of Fergie awhile back around the time she was a guest on John Garabedian’s Open House Party. So it was interesting to be able to put a name with a face.

a reminder to myself

You know, just so I stop thinking about it, I am going to put something here. I want to write a post about U2 (performance, stage-tech, and music), theatre (and the arts in general. including ballet. I think opera is my favorite of all. Possibly the favorite. I'll have to explain why. It has to do with being able to relate and understand (same thing really). I have trouble). Well anywhoo... it sounds like it could be a fun post, but time for some self-control, discipline, whatever you want to call it. Time to do Statistics.

Before the U2 Concert

OU - TX Game

I was a bit disappointed about the loss against Texas, but the Red River Rivalry was a very fun game to watch. I hadn't expected such a low score in the first half, and such a change for Texas in the second. It was so close for so long too, even though, well, both teams were playing poorly offensively for so long. Thank you, to whom I won't mention, for the nice time at the game watch party.

The U2 - Polymer Processing Laboratory Tour

I was really hoping that I would run into Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen, Jr. to give them a tour of the Polymer Processing Laboratory. Alas, this may not happen.

A Day of Statistics - After the OU-TX game

So, my statistics test is coming up on Tuesday. It is going to be huge, well huge for me.

We are reviewing the book: Statistics for Engineering and the Sciences, 5th Ed. by W. Mendenhall and T. Sincich.

In the first chapter we focused on, chapter 2, which included measures of central tendency, measures of variation, box plots, stem-and-leaf diagrams, histograms, and measures relative standing. While we had homework problems in this area, a big emphasis was put on the use of SPSS for our analysis. It is a lot easier anyways.

We then proceeded to chapter 4 of the text, in hopes that we understood at least some probability from chapter 3. It was important that we understood Bernoulli trials as well as the binomial distribution that is related to it. Owh, and I completely forgot, we used the concept of expected value and applied it to discrete random variables.

In chapter 5 we examined cumulative distribution functions and probability density functions for continuous random variables.

Well anyhow, this is a little brief. It is study time! Which is kind of like dinner time except with out the food. Umm...actually, no parallels, except the excitement.

Following the U2 Setup

I have been following the U2 Concert in Norman moderately closely. I will be going to it on Sunday. Here is a brief rundown of what I have noticed:

Monday: Asp street near the stadium (northbound) was closed. The football stadium lights were on in the evening.

Tuesday: Around lunch-time a large yellow crane showed up followed by a truck with a large portion of the stage. In addition, forklifts were operating under a large section of the stadium parking garage. I also noticed security surrounded the perimeter of the stadium.

Wednesday: I noticed two 25 foot sections of the stage arrive. I took some pictures of the setup, one of which is below.















Thursday:

The stage set, or "the Claw", was visible of the side of the stadium. Men were working on top of the large monstrosity.

Friday:

The stage set was still visible above the side of the stadium, yet little activity was apparent. The north and south upper decks were covered with plastic.















Saturday:

A large spire, that I had not noticed before, protruded from the claw. Two semis, one apparently
full of stage equipment were blocking the west bound lane of Lindsey. A third an forth semi were heading towards, and away from stadium on Lindsey , respectively.

Purpose

This blog is an attempt to force me to start thinking about something interesting to talk about in real life, and to move me away from the Internet. Fail. Sort of. If you are following, I hope you enjoy. :)