Tyson: It's not just a meat brand.
Aug. 8th, 2008 04:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bironic(I can't believe I just typed that subject line. And kept it.)
I've been trying to read Neil deGrasse Tyson's Death by Black Hole, which I picked up last year but never got around to. It's a compilation of his best Scientific American columns, slightly edited for continuity and updates. They should not be difficult to follow, and yet I'm having a hell of a time getting through it. My attention keeps wandering; I'll find that I've read several paragraphs with little idea of what he just said. I don't know yet if it's his style, or his style clashing with my brain, or just my brain. Need to try sitting down with it in a quiet room for an extended time instead of catching a few pages here and there in waiting rooms and with my family watching TV in the background (neither of which caused much trouble for the other books I've read this summer).
Relatedly, I'm jazzed to see that Tyson's got a cameo appearance on SGA at some point this season.* I expect McKay will try to pick a fight with him. Remember this exchange from "Trio," where Keller and Carter are playing "who would you do"? (Non-SGA fans: Check out this exchange from "Trio," where two characters are playing "who would you do" *g*:)
Yes. Because McKay interacting with a real physicist would be glorious. We'd get to see how much of a genius he actually is in the physics world instead of taking him at his word (the fact that his research is classified and probably can't be used as ammunition in these circumstances aside). I'm not sure which would be better, McKay winning or Tyson pwning him offhandedly. Dammit, Pru wrote a story once where McKay was at a physics conference and argued with or about Tyson, and it was funny, but I can't find it.
Point is, I'm looking forward to it. It's like a less spectacular version of when they had Steven Hawking on The Next Generation playing holosuite poker.
* With Bill Nye the [former] Science Guy, who seems to have people more excited than Tyson. Bill Nye was just after my time, I think. My sister used to watch his show after school.
After a weekend, a two-day trip and two and a half ordinary weekdays, I'm getting used to not having to go to work. Sleeping until 9 a.m. is pretty cool, as is not having to drive 52 miles a day, deal with the people in the office, or, like, get dressed if I don't want to. Wednesday morning some thunderstorms rolled through—a rare occurrence around here these past few years, as for whatever reason storms have started to circumvent our town—and I just dozed through them, half-listening to the rain and rumbles. We had some more yesterday afternoon, which were also enjoyed from the cloud-dimmed indoors while researching kitchenware online.
...I also want to ask about recipes, but a post with a cut for SGA is probably not the place to do it. Stay tuned.
Ack, and I have to finish my trip photos too.
I've been trying to read Neil deGrasse Tyson's Death by Black Hole, which I picked up last year but never got around to. It's a compilation of his best Scientific American columns, slightly edited for continuity and updates. They should not be difficult to follow, and yet I'm having a hell of a time getting through it. My attention keeps wandering; I'll find that I've read several paragraphs with little idea of what he just said. I don't know yet if it's his style, or his style clashing with my brain, or just my brain. Need to try sitting down with it in a quiet room for an extended time instead of catching a few pages here and there in waiting rooms and with my family watching TV in the background (neither of which caused much trouble for the other books I've read this summer).
Relatedly, I'm jazzed to see that Tyson's got a cameo appearance on SGA at some point this season.* I expect McKay will try to pick a fight with him. Remember this exchange from "Trio," where Keller and Carter are playing "who would you do"? (Non-SGA fans: Check out this exchange from "Trio," where two characters are playing "who would you do" *g*:)
KELLER: Okay, you go. C'mon, it's easy. Any two guys I would know.
CARTER: Okay. Uh, Brian Greene or Neil deGrasse Tyson?
KELLER: *stares*
CARTER: They're physicists.
KELLER: Uh-huh.
CARTER: They're on TV. I picked ones you should know.
KELLER: Uh, Brian Greene, I guess.
CARTER: Oh, Tyson all the way!
MCKAY: Are you talking about Neil deGrasse Tyson? He once stole an idea from me. Did I tell you that story?
CARTER: Only about a dozen times, McKay.
Yes. Because McKay interacting with a real physicist would be glorious. We'd get to see how much of a genius he actually is in the physics world instead of taking him at his word (the fact that his research is classified and probably can't be used as ammunition in these circumstances aside). I'm not sure which would be better, McKay winning or Tyson pwning him offhandedly. Dammit, Pru wrote a story once where McKay was at a physics conference and argued with or about Tyson, and it was funny, but I can't find it.
Point is, I'm looking forward to it. It's like a less spectacular version of when they had Steven Hawking on The Next Generation playing holosuite poker.
* With Bill Nye the [former] Science Guy, who seems to have people more excited than Tyson. Bill Nye was just after my time, I think. My sister used to watch his show after school.
After a weekend, a two-day trip and two and a half ordinary weekdays, I'm getting used to not having to go to work. Sleeping until 9 a.m. is pretty cool, as is not having to drive 52 miles a day, deal with the people in the office, or, like, get dressed if I don't want to. Wednesday morning some thunderstorms rolled through—a rare occurrence around here these past few years, as for whatever reason storms have started to circumvent our town—and I just dozed through them, half-listening to the rain and rumbles. We had some more yesterday afternoon, which were also enjoyed from the cloud-dimmed indoors while researching kitchenware online.
...I also want to ask about recipes, but a post with a cut for SGA is probably not the place to do it. Stay tuned.
Ack, and I have to finish my trip photos too.
