Minimalist poetry: after the storm

 

Czeslaw Milosz - Encounter (zen reading)

Encounter

 (Czeslaw Milosz - 1936)

We were riding through frozen fields in a wagon at dawn.
A red wing rose in the darkness.

And suddenly a hare ran across the road.
One of us pointed to it with his hand.

That was long ago. Today neither of them is alive,
Not the hare, nor the man who made the gesture.

O my love, where are they, where are they going
The flash of a hand, streak of movement, rustle of pebbles.
I ask not out of sorrow, but in wonder.

My take: whether intended or not, this is a magnificent artistic representation of the Mahayana Buddhist concept of sunyata (creative emptiness - impermanence), the poetry version of a masterful zen painting, an immersion into the wonder of Buddha-nature.

Scoala cu clasele I-VIII Florin Comişel - Ploieşti (Middle School Florin Comişel)

That's the school where I was a student in grades 1 through 4 (from 1970 to 1974). 

At that time, the school name was plainly "General School Number 11". Every school recess happened in the Jupiter 6 backyard: then it seemed huge to me (although over the years my perception changed). Still, the school was very close to my home (I used to live on Jupiter 2). My classroom teacher was Mrs. Elena Nedelcu, a kind, family-oriented person.

Later, the school name changed to Florin Comişel Middle School.

Florin Comişel (1922-1985) was a Romanian composer, pianist, and director.

In context (and speaking of music): in 1972, just around the time when I was finishing the second grade, Elton John released Rocket Man.

Agnosticism/atheism and the underlying zen

To be agnostic in the sense of "I don't want to get involved" or "I am sitting on the fence" is not a tenable position. It is incomplete in that it begs for a follow-up. However, most of those claiming an (operational) agnosticism are implicitly pointing out to a (philosophical) atheism. 

Otherwise, only "sitting on a fence" would implicitly recognize a certain region bounded by that fence. 

But there is no fence. 

And here is the zen.

Over the Hills and Far Away - my favorite LZ and why

 

In the night that preceded my departure to America (August '92), I obsessively listened, for hours and hours, Led Zeppelin's "Over the Hills and Far Away". This LZ piece remained with me forever!

"Many dreams come true, and some have silver linings"...

 

 

(Non-)apologia lui Calistrat

Ce avem aici e in esenta e vorba de un textbook "non-apology apology". Aparent Calistrat Chifan isi cere scuze (printre rinduri) pentru datul de palme - "brutal" e termenul lui Chifan pentru ceea ce s-ar putea califica drept "battery" (penal/criminal) in sens legal (a se contrasta cu victimele, care nu au comis nicio crima - in cel mai rau caz ar putea fi incalcarea conventiilor establishment-ului, care nu e o crima). 

Textul lui Calistrat se desfasoara ca un text defensiv, cvasi-submisiv fata de ierarhie. Insa pentru marele public e un ghiveci pasiv-agresiv, o apologie ne-genuina - ceva in gen "fratilor, imi cer scuze pentru greselile mele, apreciez suporterii publici, *dar* cei ce au remarcat greselile mele sint dusmanosi, tendentiosi si bintuiti de un suflu de rautate" (!). 

Fragmente din declaratia de la "botul calului" (pagina calistrat dot ro):

- După prima săptămână de post al bucuriei, am putut străbate cu mintea printre avalanșele de insulte care de care mai dure și mai pătimașe.

- Cuvinte grele, replici dure, tot felul de confecții verbale răutăcioase izvorâte din prisosul unor inimi pline de dreptate, justiție, adevăr, sau păreri bine construite în ceea ce privește o faptă negheobă săvârșită la un moment de neatenție și neluare aminte. [...]
- Scuzele nu folosesc la nimic, fapta este incalificabilă și demnă de pedeapsa primită, atât din partea superiorilor, a publicului, a  societății consternate de un gest injust, pe fondul unor ambiții feminine, provocate în formă continuă, instigând la dezordine în timpul slujbelor, însă raportate la persoana mea, omul iute și neatent în momentul nedorit, s-au petrecut cele știute.

- Simt că lecția de la Dumnezeu, a fost cu scopul de a vedea că sunt om cu slăbiciune și pot cădea în ispită, dacă nu am trezvie în minte.

- Acum cu mintea limpede, fără a mima vre o umbră de smerenie, sincer îmi asum întreaga greșeală petrecută, peste care poate s-ar fi putut păși în cu totul vre o altă formulă.

- Mulțumesc deopotrivă creștinilor firești și obișnuiți, care au luat lucrurile așa cum sunt, apoi celor care au ales să se roage păstrând tăcerea [...]

- Nu este doar vina mea personală, chiar o parte din "media", și-a adus un aport deosebit prin metodele ei clasice de destorsionare a realității lucrurilor, să facă dintr-un călugăr obișnuit, un personaj de carton, un impostor, un pericol public, un personaj negativ al societății. [...]

- Într-adevar, de la acest incident izolat, care se putea întâmpla oricui, nu neapărat numai mie personal, s-a creat un suflu de răutate inimaginabil de tendențios și dușmănos, în mod inexplicabil, care a cuprins intreaga suflare. [...]

(Pr.Calistrat).

De aceea ceea ce avem aici are sens NUMAI ca un produs specific directionat pentru consumul si satisfactia celor sus-pusi ierarhi bisericesti. Care sint de fapt cistigatorii in toata afacerea asta. 

C-asa-i in tenis.

Yitang Zhang - the genius who prevailed

Pe scurt - viata unui geniu matematic - Yitang Zhang - care a suferit multe obstacole, faultari si a trecut prin multe perioade dificile. Sint foarte bucuros ca a reusit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitang_Zhang

Zhang's PhD work was on the Jacobian conjecture. After graduation, Zhang had trouble finding an academic position. In a 2013 interview with Nautilus magazine, Zhang said he did not get a job after graduation. "During that period it was difficult to find a job in academics. That was a job market problem. Also, my advisor [Tzuong-Tsieng Moh] did not write me letters of recommendation." Zhang made this claim again in George Csicsery's documentary film "Counting from Infinity: Yitang Zhang and the Twin Prime Conjecture" while discussing his difficulties at Purdue and in the years that followed. Moh claimed that Zhang never came back to him requesting recommendation letters. In a detailed profile published in The New Yorker magazine in February 2015, Alec Wilkinson wrote Zhang "parted unhappily" with Moh, and that Zhang "left Purdue without Moh's support, and, having published no papers, was unable to find an academic job". In 2018, responding to reports of his treatment of Zhang, Moh posted an update on his website. Moh wrote that Zhang "failed miserably" in proving Jacobian conjecture, "never published any paper on algebraic geometry" after leaving Purdue, and "wasted 7 years of his [Zhang's] own life and my [Moh's] time". After some years, Zhang managed to find a position as a lecturer at the University of New Hampshire, where he was hired by Kenneth Appel in 1999. Prior to getting back to academia, he worked for several years as an accountant and a delivery worker for a New York City restaurant. He also worked in a motel in Kentucky and in a Subway sandwich shop. A profile published in the Quanta Magazine reports that Zhang used to live in his car during the initial job-hunting days. He served as lecturer at UNH from 1999 until around January 2014, when UNH appointed him to a full professorship as a result of his breakthrough on prime numbers. Zhang stayed for a semester at The Institute For Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ in 2014, and he joined the University of California, Santa Barbara in fall 2015.

Tolkien - on trees

"Every tree has its enemy, few have an advocate. In all my works I take the part of trees against all their enemies" ~ JRR Tolkien

via FB - Aragorn

Hosting trickortreat 2022 with Felix the Cat

 

#trickortreat2022 in Ada, 2022 

Hosts: me and Felix, our tuxedo cat

Encounter at Farpoint

Star Trek TNG's pilot episode "Encounter at Farpoint" (1987) concluded today on Heroes and Icons HD. 

Wonderful. It's a must see, but for everybody I paste here the plot from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encounter_at_Farpoint

In 2364, the new flagship of the United Federation of Planets, Starfleet's USS Enterprise, travels to the planet Deneb IV for its maiden voyage. Enterprise is to open relations with the simple Bandi people who have somehow been able to tap immense energy reserves and construct Farpoint Station, much to the surprise of the Federation. En route, the Enterprise is met by an omnipotent being who identifies himself as Q, a member of the Q Continuum—posing in appearance as a Grand Inquisitor—who declares that humanity is being put on trial then decides that their actions in their upcoming mission will be used to judge their worthiness and determine their fate as a race. Before letting the ship resume its course, Q warns Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) that he is destined to fail. As the Enterprise arrives, the crew members explore the offerings of Farpoint Station and establish relations with their Bandi host, Groppler Zorn (Michael Bell). The crew becomes suspicious when items they desire seem to appear out of nowhere moments later, and are unable to identify the power source that feeds the station. Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), an empath, senses a being with powerful yet despairing emotions nearby, and the crew discover a strange labyrinth beneath the station, but Zorn does not offer an explanation. As the Enterprise crew continues its explorations, a large unknown alien craft enters orbit and begins to fire upon an older Bandi settlement near Farpoint Station, and abducts Zorn. Before Picard orders the ship's phasers to be fired at the craft, Q appears to remind him of humanity's trial and prompts Picard to send an away team to the alien craft. The away team discovers the craft has passages similar to those under Farpoint and they are able to free Zorn. Their actions cause the alien craft to transform into a jellyfish-like space creature, and Picard is able to deduce the mystery of Farpoint Station. He confirms with the apologetic Zorn that the Bandi found a similar lifeform injured on their planet and, while attempting to care for it, they also exploited its ability to synthesize matter to create Farpoint Station. The creature now in orbit is trying to help free its mate by attacking those who hold it captive. Though Q goads Picard into punishing the Bandi, Picard refuses, instead ordering the Enterprise to fire a vivifying energy beam onto Farpoint after the station is evacuated. The beam allows the land-bound creature to transform back into its jellyfish-like form, and it flies into orbit to join its fellow being. As the crew watches the reunion of the alien creatures, Q reluctantly tells Picard that the humans have succeeded in their test, but hints that they will meet again.

A response to Londregan and Klainerman - The Princetonian 9/22/21

To be known and shouted over: Race and first-year orientation  

A response to Londregan and Klainerman 

Zachary Shevin and AG McGee in The Princetonian - September 22 2021

Good reading, especially as a complement to the discussion notes that appeared on this blog - see "White Math" or Sergiu Klainerman's straw man - excerpts from a discussion. The feeling is similar, the author of the opinion piece in The Princetonian rightfully seeing false equivalencies where some Romanians saw the straw man:

"When we refuse to give grace by listening fully to the voices of others, especially historically marginalized voices, we make the same mistake as Londregan and Klainerman. We shout over and misrepresent voices we dislike. We seek false equivalencies rather than truth."

QUANTA MAGAZINE: Mathematicians Discover the Fibonacci Numbers Hiding in Strange Spaces

Mathematicians Discover the Fibonacci Numbers Hiding in Strange Spaces 

Recent explorations of unique geometric worlds reveal perplexing patterns, including the Fibonacci sequence and the golden ratio.

Read the Quanta Magazine paper here.

Best signal that Autumn has come - Flying geese

 

Ada's autumnal splendor

 

RIP beloved Copperetta (April 14, 2004 - September 20, 2022)!

Rest in peace, my beloved Copperetta (April 14, 2004 - September 20, 2022)!

Towards the end you suffered a lot (being blind and deaf for more than one year) but you still cleverly learned a daily routine and stayed close to us, on the sofa (which you always managed to find), purring continuously! 

No more suffering, my love! You lived a full life of more than 18 years and will remain forever in our hearts! Thank you for everything!

 

Muddy Waters with Buddy Guy & Junior Wells ‎— Messin' With The Blues

Sonny Rollins - There Will Never Be Another You (Live - Denmark 1965)

Dalma, first thing in the morning: establishing a communication line

 

ONU campus - autumnal wonders

 

Carl Sagan - gods as dreams

"It is said that men may not be the dreams of the god, but rather that the gods are the dreams of men." 

Carl Sagan - Cosmos

Hercule Poirot - belief

 

"Belief, monsieur le doctor, is good, but it is not good enough."

Hercule Poirot, The Case of the Missing Will (1993)

Remembering Carmen and Corina

 

Abhay Ashtekar on Gödel Universes, Buddha's Poison Arrow, Time Travel, and Loop Quantum Cosmology

 

 

Abhay Ashtekar - from Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abhay_Ashtekar

Abhay Vasant Ashtekar (born 5 July 1949) is an Indian theoretical physicist. He is the Eberly Professor of Physics and the Director of the Institute for Gravitational Physics and Geometry at Pennsylvania State University. As the creator of Ashtekar variables, he is one of the founders of loop quantum gravity and its subfield loop quantum cosmology. He has also written a number of descriptions of loop quantum gravity that are accessible to non-physicists. In 1999, Ashtekar and his colleagues were able to calculate the entropy for a black hole, matching a legendary 1974 prediction by Hawking. Oxford mathematical physicist Roger Penrose has described Ashtekar's approach to quantum gravity as "The most important of all the attempts at 'quantizing' general relativity." Ashtekar was elected as Member to National Academy of Sciences in May 2016.

Abhay Ashtekar is an atheist, though he enjoys reading on Indian and other eastern philosophy, namely the Tao and the Zen traditions. Furthermore, he believes to be inspired from the Bhagawat Gita as regards his attitude towards work.

Overwhelmed by nonsense, Teodosie's microphone commited suicide

Yes, that's the one and only bishop Teodosie, Putin praiser, anti-vaxxer, misogynistic, and former Security collaborator.

IPS Teodosie, supărat după ce organizatorii i-au tăiat microfonul la Ziua Marinei: „Înaintea lui Dumnezeu vor răspunde”

Salman Rushdie: The idea of the sacred is...

“The idea of the sacred is quite simply one of the most conservative notions in any culture, because it seeks to turn other ideas - uncertainty, progress, change - into crimes.” 

Salman Rushdie, “Is nothing sacred?”, Penguin (Non-Classics),1990

Memories from ONU

 

Until not long ago, these cannons were placed in front of the Meyer Hall of Science. 

At some moment in the early 2000s the Physics Dpt had a plenary talk by Gerardus 't Hooft, Dutch Nobel Prize winner. As I was interested by some entanglement problems, I tried to present our distinguished speaker some of my thoughts. I was talking to him along the road from the dining area to Meyer, and as we passed the cannons, he stopped for a while, looked at the cannons and told me he felt that the presence of such symbols in front of a university building was not a nice combination, since it reflects hostility. Honestly I did not pay much attention to the cannons, but I agreed with him. 

Recently they were moved near a lake on campus (pictured here).

Desolation Row

At the same time atemporal and in minute, humorous-to-damn-serious historical detail... the fact that this masterpiece comes from somebody who won Nobel Prize for Literature, makes perfect sense.

Fragmentarium Carmen - random notes

 

Carmen lived more than 24 years under the communism. She was born on July 3, 1965 and died at 49, at roughly the same age as Rosario Castellanos, who so powerfully wrote about cultural and gender oppression.

Carmen was an introverted spirit - that's for sure. But when somebody got her started, she would eloquently spoke for hours engaging in sophisticated arguments - mostly academic, but sometimes with highly practical overtones that got herself surprised. After the fact, I find this passionate speeches reflected a deep sadness.

 

At an adolescent age, she incorporated a sublimated eroticism of an imaginary friend (whose name I will not divulge) into short prose and poetry. This later developed into a strong affinity with the dynamic stories of Krishna and Radha. And yes she loved James Dean, fact which may be correlated with her adventures in the Gothic realm. 

 

She made the mistake of showing her early writings to Matilda Caragiu-Marioteanu, who behaved in a dismissive and rude manner (speaking of gender oppressing like gender).  The argument that both Carmen and Matilda were strong, opinionated characters (so... whatever!) does not hold water, since the "debate" between a child and a high-rank academic is uneven: the child always loses and marked forever by the rejection. So it's still oppressive. And Carmen learned her lesson every time somebody behaved dismissively towards her: learning her lesson meant she became more and more introverted, sometimes going to the extreme of creating an imaginary universe in which she felt safe and appreciated. 

 

Carmen's destiny was textbook case of gender oppression, her potential and talent being willingly and unwillingly inhibited by societal cliches, interest groups in her fields (Indian literature and Philosophy, Esthetics, etc.), and yes, even the family caught in their own projects and dreams (notable exception - the moment she decided - and ultimately got the family's blessing - to switch from a Math/Physics school to a school in Languages). While that was a reprieve, she continued to be subjected to gender oppression. She faced everything with bravery, but never stood a chance - what could she do before 1989? Or even later? Like previously noted, she peacefully immersed herself deeper and deeper in an imaginary universe. Life truly became art! But everything was not OK. 

 

To be clear, the church - through dogma and cult - in which she actually did not participate, was part of the problem. She hated religious fundamentalists. More than that, citing Jaspers, considered as absurd the claims that church attendance, baptism and communion were necessary conditions for salvation (these were actually mainstream). Adding insult to injury, she was fascinated by gender fluidity! The fact that some of her writings have - at places - soft,  charming philosophical eastern orthodox overtones (in a style of artistic confessions, not surprisingly similar to - and adaptations of - the wonderful style of her explorations of the Indian esthetic thought and yoga) is, sadly, explainable by a necessity to pay a sort of "protection/cohabitation tax" to the paternalistic centers of the religious power (unfortunately with tentacles extended everywhere in Romania), hoping for a social truce or compromise that would preserve her own identity reflected in the spirit of her art, esthetics and theory. Therein lies a new danger to which she was subjected both before and after her death: cultural appropriation. In many respects it has been done (and will continue), but these notes represent the beginning of a long overdue duty of mine to push back.

 

But now, after years, the truth is that my dear Goth is free in her own esthetic Mahāparinirvāṇa (esthetic being the key word here, that is beyond the tentacles of organized religion and in perpetual enjoyment of the "deep field" network of beauty, music and love) and I became an Agnostic (with a touch of mindfulness). A sort of convergence.

Ukrainian mathematician gets Fields medal

BREAKING: Maryna Viazovska, a Ukrainian sphere-packing number theorist, has been awarded the Fields Medal, math’s highest honor. She is the second woman to receive the medal in its 86-year history

QUANTA MAGAZINE: In Times of Scarcity, War and Peace, a Ukrainian Finds the Magic in Math

Compassion and companionship

 

Dzogchen in short

What is Dzogchen with Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

 

 

Not finding one who observes, 
Your view is exhausted. 
This is the beginning of Your lucidly clear Awareness.

                    Padmasambhava

Blues legends - Otis Spann, Big Joe Williams, Sonny Boy Williamson, Willie Dixon, Lonnie Johnson ,Victoria Spivey, Muddy Waters, Memphis Slim et al.

Celebrating Juneteenth

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneteenth

Sunrise

Sunrise at ONU with witnessing dog (Dalma)

 

ONU Undergraduate Research Colloquium 2022 - my students' posters

 

Deer on campus!

 

With the (twin) cousins and (paternal) grandparents - way back in time

I suppose it was sometime between mid '64 to mid '65.

Poetry by Ryōkan Taigu (7 Haiku Poems)

Ryōkan Taigu (良寛大愚) (1758–1831) was a quiet and unconventional Sōtō Zen Buddhist monk

Ryōkan Taigu of Japan (18th century), was a quiet, eccentric Zen Buddhist monk whose name means "broad-hearted generous fool", qualities that his life and work embodied. Ryokan didn’t like to be considered a "poet." He once said “When you know that my poems are not poems, Then we can speak of poetry”. The form of poetry Ryokan practiced so perfectly reflected his life - clear, present, simple and disciplined. It is inspired by nature, his daily chores, lonely winters, begging for food and playing with the local village children.

Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin) shows support for Ukraine on tour (ledzepnews)

Robert Plant has been showing his support for Ukraine while on tour - https://ledzepnews.com/2022/04/11/robert-plant-has-been-showing-his-support-for-ukraine-while-on-tour/

 

A Samsung Galaxy camera take : the moon, always surprising

 

Taken on May 7 at 10:25 PM, with a Galaxy camera - in Ada, OH.

 

Pat Metheny, Joni Mitchell, Jaco Pastorius, Michael Brecker - "Shadows And Light".

 

• Joni Mitchell - electric guitar, vocals 
• Pat Metheny - lead guitar 
• Jaco Pastorius - bass 
• Don Alias - drums 
• Lyle Mays - keyboards 
• Michael Brecker - saxophone 
• The Persuasions - backing vocals on "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" & "Shadows and Light" 
• Toller Cranston - skates 
• Andy Johns - engineer 

Shadows and Light is Joni Mitchell's 1980 double live album, recorded at the Santa Barbara County Bowl in September 1979 on the Mingus tour.

For Ukraine: Pink Floyd - Hey Hey Rise Up (feat. Andriy Khlyvnyuk of Boombox)

 

'Hey Hey Rise Up', released in support of the people of Ukraine, sees David Gilmour and Nick Mason joined by long time Pink Floyd bass player Guy Pratt and Nitin Sawhney on keyboards, all accompanying an extraordinary vocal by Andriy Khlyvnyuk of Ukrainian band Boombox. All proceeds go to Ukrainian Humanitarian Relief.

A human archaeology attempt - what Carmen liked just before her passing

 

Maggie (2003-2022)

Just after her 19-th birthday... 

RIP my love!!!

Maggie (2003-2022). Till we meet again!

Maggie lived a full, complete life. She got a litter of four, O'Malley, Dusty, Copperetta, and Mixie (the last two are still living, quite ancient themselves). In human years, Maggie definitely got to be more than 90 years old. In the last days of her life she was extremely weak and thin, yet carried on like a true and brave samurai! In the day prior to her passing, she gathered all her strength and will power, jumped over a tall window, got outside, and waited for us to come from school in the sunlight of a beautiful day. If Maggie would be a painting, I could not characterize her otherwise than a masterpiece.