Friday, April 04, 2008
Queen Offensive?
Last night I went to babysit the twelve-year-old again. It was fun, we played Zelda: the Phantom Hourglass together, but I was winning too much and he got upset when I used his own tactics against him. So we went and played a soccer game on the computer so T. could beat me. Then we tried a team game, where you have to obliterate bubbles by shooting clawhooks into the air. But I kept dying, which hindered our progress somewhat.
Then we played chess again, and T. sooooooo kicked my ass. He started this huge offensive with his queen, and managed to take all my good pieces one by one, just picking them off. I ended up with nothing but the king and a knight, so I surrendered. Although it's not officially in the rules, he made me tip over the king as a sign of my defeat. He also refused to concede that I had won two games last time, and is convinced the score is now 1-1. Well, I guess that means I just need to improve my game.
I discovered a great new knitting project, which I intend to start as soon as I can find some appropriate yarn. I want to make a harpsichord version, with light brown for the 'black' keys, and darker brown for the white ones. I'm off to Heidelberg today to visit Maria Pia, so perhaps I'll check out the yarn store there to see if there's anything suitable.
That's all for now. I'll be back after the weekend, hopefully with yummy yarn for my scarf!
Random quote of the day:
Then we played chess again, and T. sooooooo kicked my ass. He started this huge offensive with his queen, and managed to take all my good pieces one by one, just picking them off. I ended up with nothing but the king and a knight, so I surrendered. Although it's not officially in the rules, he made me tip over the king as a sign of my defeat. He also refused to concede that I had won two games last time, and is convinced the score is now 1-1. Well, I guess that means I just need to improve my game.
I discovered a great new knitting project, which I intend to start as soon as I can find some appropriate yarn. I want to make a harpsichord version, with light brown for the 'black' keys, and darker brown for the white ones. I'm off to Heidelberg today to visit Maria Pia, so perhaps I'll check out the yarn store there to see if there's anything suitable.
That's all for now. I'll be back after the weekend, hopefully with yummy yarn for my scarf!
Random quote of the day:
Labels: chess
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Initiative
Yesterday at work I couldn't decide which preposition goes with initiative - is it 'at the initiative of' or 'on the initiative of'? The BBI Dictionary of English Word Combinations didn't have an entry for initiative, so I was left at the mercy of Google. Here were the search results:
'At the initiative of' = 411,000 hits
'On the initiative of' = 496,000 hits
Although this might seem conclusive, there were still a lot of hits for both, so I still had no clear answer. Also, my personal preference was for at, and these results didn't support my opinion. Thinking further, I thought that my preference might be some weird Australian thing (for example, no self-respecting Australian would ever write in respect of, but British journalists seem to use it like there's no tomorrow), which called for more research. Here are the UK site results for at and on:
at = 548 hits
on= 560 hits
A mere hair's breadth, but still more results for on. And now the Australian sites:
at = 10,900 hits
on= 9,420 hits
I rest my case. I used on.
Quote of the day:
"You see Brent, that is the sign of true music - it hides its artifice behind a screen of beauty."
- John Weretka
'At the initiative of' = 411,000 hits
'On the initiative of' = 496,000 hits
Although this might seem conclusive, there were still a lot of hits for both, so I still had no clear answer. Also, my personal preference was for at, and these results didn't support my opinion. Thinking further, I thought that my preference might be some weird Australian thing (for example, no self-respecting Australian would ever write in respect of, but British journalists seem to use it like there's no tomorrow), which called for more research. Here are the UK site results for at and on:
at = 548 hits
on= 560 hits
A mere hair's breadth, but still more results for on. And now the Australian sites:
at = 10,900 hits
on= 9,420 hits
I rest my case. I used on.
Quote of the day:
"You see Brent, that is the sign of true music - it hides its artifice behind a screen of beauty."
- John Weretka
Labels: grammar, initiative, John Weretka, language, prepositions
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Eureka!
(Insert Ja'mie voice here): "Um, so anyway, I have the best news..."
... I just got back from Stitch 'n' Bitch, and have made some major progress on a mathematical knitting problem I've been grappling with. Here's the story: just over a year ago, I wanted to knit an armadillo that you could roll up into a ball. Kind of like a popple, but I actually wanted a perfect sphere, not just a teddy with a pouch that you pull over its head. So I started thinking about how you would go about knitting a short-row sphere, i.e. one you could knit that had a resulting split across half the circumference allowing you to place folds in it to create a hemisphere (kind of like a foldable hood on a baby's carriage, or an awning). I found the problem mathematically a little daunting, and so quickly stopped thinking about it (I ended up knitting these dice). Until recently...
At the SnB I've made friends with Jennifer and Lisa, two atmospheric scientists from the Dutch meteorological institute. Needless to say, they're both better than me at maths, and after some brainstorming with Jennifer and her husband last week, tonight I placed the problem before Lisa and - you guessed it - we have a formula! Here's what we came up with:
Basically, what I needed to know was: for each cast-on stitch on the needle, how many rows are needed above and below it to produce a circle of latitude of the right circumference for that position on the sphere's surface? So using trigonometry (plus some white wine and a shot of strong Dutch gin) we figured out a way of calculating each circle of latitude as a function of the position of each stitch on the needle. Then you can figure out the short-row pattern, and knit the sphere in one piece. Phew and yippee at the same time!
Now I just need to get Jennifer to put the formula into an excel sheet for me, and then I'll have a generator that will calculate the pattern for any number of cast-on stitches.
(Insert evil laugh voice here): Mwuh-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
Quote of the day:
A man remarks, in anger torn,
"No rose exists without a thorn."
Yet think of how his anger grows
At all the thorns without a rose!
- Eugen Roth
... I just got back from Stitch 'n' Bitch, and have made some major progress on a mathematical knitting problem I've been grappling with. Here's the story: just over a year ago, I wanted to knit an armadillo that you could roll up into a ball. Kind of like a popple, but I actually wanted a perfect sphere, not just a teddy with a pouch that you pull over its head. So I started thinking about how you would go about knitting a short-row sphere, i.e. one you could knit that had a resulting split across half the circumference allowing you to place folds in it to create a hemisphere (kind of like a foldable hood on a baby's carriage, or an awning). I found the problem mathematically a little daunting, and so quickly stopped thinking about it (I ended up knitting these dice). Until recently...
At the SnB I've made friends with Jennifer and Lisa, two atmospheric scientists from the Dutch meteorological institute. Needless to say, they're both better than me at maths, and after some brainstorming with Jennifer and her husband last week, tonight I placed the problem before Lisa and - you guessed it - we have a formula! Here's what we came up with:
Basically, what I needed to know was: for each cast-on stitch on the needle, how many rows are needed above and below it to produce a circle of latitude of the right circumference for that position on the sphere's surface? So using trigonometry (plus some white wine and a shot of strong Dutch gin) we figured out a way of calculating each circle of latitude as a function of the position of each stitch on the needle. Then you can figure out the short-row pattern, and knit the sphere in one piece. Phew and yippee at the same time!Now I just need to get Jennifer to put the formula into an excel sheet for me, and then I'll have a generator that will calculate the pattern for any number of cast-on stitches.
(Insert evil laugh voice here): Mwuh-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
Quote of the day:
A man remarks, in anger torn,
"No rose exists without a thorn."
Yet think of how his anger grows
At all the thorns without a rose!
- Eugen Roth
Labels: armadillo, knitting, mathematics, sphere, trigonometry
Monday, March 31, 2008
Clogging?
Hey y'all. Boy, am I exhausted today - don't know what hit me. Rehearsal was a real strain, I was really pooped after only having sung the cantus firmus of the Tallis Loquebantur, my voice was somewhere off in la-la land. So I'll be quick tonight. I just wanted to make a quick entry about...
Clogging.
While I was on Ravelry, I came across this user (sorry, if you're not already registered on Ravelry you won't be able to access that profile) who described himself as a 'clogging instructor'. This piqued my interest, and so I visited a few sites on the subject. From what I can gather, clogging is a type of folk dancing that resembles a cross between Irish dancing (i.e. Riverdance) and tap. Then I found this video on YouTube:
These guys are totally hot! And then I found this one:
The way they move, I think they all resemble 8-bit computer game characters. And at 0:21, the girl in front on the left kind of floats backward across the stage. Funky stuff.
I was also disappointed that none of this seemed to have anything to do with the Netherlands, which you might expect from the clog reference. Perhaps they only got around to inventing the clog, and left the dancing to other people(s).
Quote of the day:
"I can play woodblock, I'm really good at keeping time. Have you noticed I'm always on time?"
"No, I think punctuality is a little different from actual rhythm."
Here here.
Clogging.
While I was on Ravelry, I came across this user (sorry, if you're not already registered on Ravelry you won't be able to access that profile) who described himself as a 'clogging instructor'. This piqued my interest, and so I visited a few sites on the subject. From what I can gather, clogging is a type of folk dancing that resembles a cross between Irish dancing (i.e. Riverdance) and tap. Then I found this video on YouTube:
These guys are totally hot! And then I found this one:
The way they move, I think they all resemble 8-bit computer game characters. And at 0:21, the girl in front on the left kind of floats backward across the stage. Funky stuff.
I was also disappointed that none of this seemed to have anything to do with the Netherlands, which you might expect from the clog reference. Perhaps they only got around to inventing the clog, and left the dancing to other people(s).
Quote of the day:
"I can play woodblock, I'm really good at keeping time. Have you noticed I'm always on time?"
"No, I think punctuality is a little different from actual rhythm."
Here here.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Aaaaaaargh!
Thankfully I have a needle case full of these.
Daylight savings
Hello hello! Today I slept in until 12:30 (which I guess is really only 11:30), and boy do I feel overslept! So I only have nice things planned for today, namely knitting and Arrested Development with Lisa, (who also has a blog) and possibly dinner with Michiel.
The last few days have been pretty busy. I babysat a 12-year-old on Thursday whose father sadly committed suicide around a month ago. He's really into chess at the moment, but can't find any suitable opponents to play against, so we played two games and I gave him a run for his money. He's good, just needs to stop making rash moves out of frustration. In the second game I check-mated him with only a rook and a knight. All he had let were pawns and the king. He put up a good fight.
Friday I sang at the wedding of one of the members of the DomCantorij, the choir where I sing here in Utrecht. Getting married is kinda weird in the Netherlands: church marriages are not recognised by the State, so even if you get married in a church, you still have to go to the registry office and sign something to say you're actually married. The service was an actual full-on church service, with hymns, a collection and a sermon (but no communion). We sang movements 1, 4 and 12 of the big Te Deum by Mendelssohn, and the conductor was so impressed he decided to programme the whole piece for an upcoming concert on 10 May. Yaaaaaaay Mendelssohn!
Saturday we had a concert in the cathedral, a programme of Spanish and Dutch renaissance music relating to Mary (since she got knocked up this week). We sang Guerrero, Victoria and Lassus, plus the organist provided for some Frescobaldi and Sweelinck on the harpsichord for good measure. The conductor had tried to get us to approximate something resembling mean-tone tuning, but I'm not sure how successful that actually was. I was lowering all my fifths and major thirds etc., but did run into some resistance now and then. Perhaps that was for the best.
After the concert, I went back to Jantine's house to celebrate her husband Mick's birthday. I collapsed on the couch, ate whatever food was placed in front of me,
and once all the other guests had gone home, attempted a tubular sock cast-on. And it worked! A tubular cast-on avoids the bunched-up look of a regular cast-on, and makes it appear as if the stitches travel up and over the cast-on edge, back down the other side. This is because they actually do. Normally this cast-on is made using a piece of waste yarn in addition to the actual yarn, and requires you to transfer the open stitches at a later stage, but Jantine has this great sock book that showed me how to do it without using the waste yarn. Much less hassle, and also much more clever! As I said in my last post, I'm all about saving time these days.
Ok, now I'm off to Lisa's for knitting and DVDs. Before I go, one last photo of my new laptop:
Isn't she pretty?
The last few days have been pretty busy. I babysat a 12-year-old on Thursday whose father sadly committed suicide around a month ago. He's really into chess at the moment, but can't find any suitable opponents to play against, so we played two games and I gave him a run for his money. He's good, just needs to stop making rash moves out of frustration. In the second game I check-mated him with only a rook and a knight. All he had let were pawns and the king. He put up a good fight.
Friday I sang at the wedding of one of the members of the DomCantorij, the choir where I sing here in Utrecht. Getting married is kinda weird in the Netherlands: church marriages are not recognised by the State, so even if you get married in a church, you still have to go to the registry office and sign something to say you're actually married. The service was an actual full-on church service, with hymns, a collection and a sermon (but no communion). We sang movements 1, 4 and 12 of the big Te Deum by Mendelssohn, and the conductor was so impressed he decided to programme the whole piece for an upcoming concert on 10 May. Yaaaaaaay Mendelssohn!
Saturday we had a concert in the cathedral, a programme of Spanish and Dutch renaissance music relating to Mary (since she got knocked up this week). We sang Guerrero, Victoria and Lassus, plus the organist provided for some Frescobaldi and Sweelinck on the harpsichord for good measure. The conductor had tried to get us to approximate something resembling mean-tone tuning, but I'm not sure how successful that actually was. I was lowering all my fifths and major thirds etc., but did run into some resistance now and then. Perhaps that was for the best.
After the concert, I went back to Jantine's house to celebrate her husband Mick's birthday. I collapsed on the couch, ate whatever food was placed in front of me,
and once all the other guests had gone home, attempted a tubular sock cast-on. And it worked! A tubular cast-on avoids the bunched-up look of a regular cast-on, and makes it appear as if the stitches travel up and over the cast-on edge, back down the other side. This is because they actually do. Normally this cast-on is made using a piece of waste yarn in addition to the actual yarn, and requires you to transfer the open stitches at a later stage, but Jantine has this great sock book that showed me how to do it without using the waste yarn. Much less hassle, and also much more clever! As I said in my last post, I'm all about saving time these days.Ok, now I'm off to Lisa's for knitting and DVDs. Before I go, one last photo of my new laptop:
Isn't she pretty?
