How are you doing right now ?

[Bob]

*Bob is laughing about existential questions about life, followed by the scratching of body parts.*

[thalbergmad]

I think my mum has changed her washing powder and my skin does not like it.

Scratches arse again.

Thal

[littletune]

You know Thal that's what happens a lot of times to me too! Well not so very a lot of times cause my mum is very careful with washing powders... it has to say sensitive or something like that on them... and even that is not always ok! 

[thalbergmad]

I am sure my mum has changed brands. I think one becomes used to a certain powder and problems occur when it is changed.

**massive arse scratch**

Thal

[Bob]

I'm full of Halloween leftovers.  Burp!

[pianowolfi]

Okay, Okay, I get it, I get.  There's all this blackness all around us, we're on this crazy sphere just hangin' out, circling the sun.  We believe and (because of that) experience our existence as a human timeline, where we're born, we exist, we do things or don't, there's success, there's failures, there's beauty, there's ugliness ... yadda yadda ... and then it appears we die.  We think in a hunch that maybe there's more, maybe there's not.  There's all of these cultures and factions of belief, they're important, yes, for awhile, and then at some point we're all just human.  We think maybe there's life on other planets, or at least some of us do, but who knows?  Maybe there's a God, maybe not?  Maybe heaven, maybe hell?  Some people lived before us, some people will live after us.  Every day's a mystery and our existence an enigma.  Okay, okay.  But, now what?

Guess I'll go about practicing ... and cleaning the house and teaching today and rehearsal tonight.  Please be some poetry today!  Please!

It might be hard to come back here on earth and to see that things seem to be the other way around. Where we used to see light there's now darkness. The whole universe used to be golden and bright. There was only one seemingly black spot: The center of the sun...
We might just have different ways of perception in different time periods...

[m1469]

It might be hard to come back here on earth and to see that things seem to be the other way around. Where we used to see light there's now darkness. The whole universe used to be golden and bright. There was only one seemingly black spot: The center of the sun...
We might just have different ways of perception in different time periods...

I don't know why I feel like I can remember that, but I do.  It's like I can picture it and it just seems right.  Almost like I can never see it another way now.

[pianowolfi]

I don't know why I feel like I can remember that, but I do.  It's like I can picture it and it just seems right.  Almost like I can never see it another way now.

[m1469]

I remembered this morning that once I looked at the Sun through a telescope with a special filter.  And, it appeared as you describe.  Of course everything else was light (because it was daytime as we know it) and the sun wasn't only black in the middle, but was dark.  I've never seen a solar eclipse, but I think it also is similar.  Of course, that's not what I was "remembering" but, it reminds me of that.

[m1469]

I think that both time and space function together, they are not separable, and act eternally and infinitely as a kind of supreme gravitational pull towards deeper understanding.  The outter crust or perception experiences these things as separate dimensions and the strictly surface knowledge sees time as our human life and every moment from birth to death, within this space called the world.  But, as we get beneath that crust, the lines between dimensions disappear and our vision becomes focused on the elements of principle, design, and complete ideas.

[goldentone]

I think that both time and space function together, they are not separable

To piggyback on your thought, I have thought the same, that if you can instantaneously travel from point A to point B, then you know you can travel through time.

[m1469]

To piggyback on your thought, I have thought the same, that if you can instantaneously travel from point A to point B, then you know you can travel through time.

This got me thinking a bit.  I think that in some way, if a person is able to travel through time in the way it is generally thought of, that individual has progressed quite a bit beyond thinking in terms of point A and B.  That is part of why I simply can't understand time on a timeline, exactly, though I do recognize what that timeline is supposed to mean to mankind and what it's supposed to represent.  But, if one's concept rather became such that it grew to naturally envelop (or simply that the individual realizes that it, in fact, already does envelop) all of existence (becuase I have a hunch that what we think of as our intellect actually does envelop all of existence), then the individual is more or less just already there.  So, it's kind of like if I grew to be 400 pounds, what may have been a point A and B when I had been only 100 pounds are now just sitting right under me ... haha ... all at once.  I think that our intellect is something like that, though we won't get there by having a certain kind of brain power, per se, but rather a certain kind of sense .

I've also been thinking a bit about the Apocalypse lately.  Lots of thoughts, really, and at first I got afraid because of some things, but then I realized that ... c'mon, man.  C'mon.  C'maaaannnn.  There's a much bigger lesson involved than whether or not all of existence as we know it will just one day go "poof".  And, we have to learn that lesson together, as a species.

[voltmail]

This got me thinking a bit.  I think that in some way, if a person is able to travel through time in the way it is generally thought of, that individual has progressed quite a bit beyond thinking in terms of point A and B.  That is part of why I simply can't understand time on a timeline, exactly, though I do recognize what that timeline is supposed to mean to mankind and what it's supposed to represent.  But, if one's concept rather became such that it grew to naturally envelop (or simply that the individual realizes that it, in fact, already does envelop) all of existence (becuase I have a hunch that what we think of as our intellect actually does envelop all of existence), then the individual is more or less just already there.  So, it's kind of like if I grew to be 400 pounds, what may have been a point A and B when I had been only 100 pounds are now just sitting right under me ... haha ... all at once.  I think that our intellect is something like that, though we won't get there by having a certain kind of brain power, per se, but rather a certain kind of sense .

I've also been thinking a bit about the Apocalypse lately.  Lots of thoughts, really, and at first I got afraid because of some things, but then I realized that ... c'mon, man.  C'mon.  C'maaaannnn.  There's a much bigger lesson involved than whether or not all of existence as we know it will just one day go "poof".  And, we have to learn that lesson together, as a species.

right man...c'mon

[goldentone]

This got me thinking a bit.  I think that in some way, if a person is able to travel through time in the way it is generally thought of, that individual has progressed quite a bit beyond thinking in terms of point A and B.

Well, if time and space are bound together, one entity, as you had said, then my conclusion should follow.  It actually may be that simple.  I'm not sure if you were disagreeing with what I said, though, but branching elsewhere.  If I instantaneously appeared in New York, you might say that I traveled through time in the sense of bypassing the travelling miles, i.e. space.  I bypassed time through space.  Perhaps time and space have the nature of waves and particles. 

[littletune]

All this about time and space is really cool!  I wanna figure it out someday!  well i can imagine really a lot about it but I can't explain it so well!    

[m1469]

Well, if time and space are bound together, one entity, as you had said, then my conclusion should follow.  It actually may be that simple.  I'm not sure if you were disagreeing with what I said, though, but branching elsewhere.  If I instantaneously appeared in New York, you might say that I traveled through time in the sense of bypassing the travelling miles, i.e. space.  I bypassed time through space.  Perhaps time and space have the nature of waves and particles.  

Well  , just because I say that time and space are bound together as one entity and maybe you agree (maybe not?), doesn't mean there's only one way to percieve that or experience that!  In general though, no, I am not disagreeing with you, however, I feel that the perception of there being a point A and B is perhaps not altogether what it seems.  From earth, we try to percieve our coordinates within the solar system, and even though we have "things" that go deeper into space these days (of course, probably there is much more inside-knowledge regarding that than what I will ever know), much of our perception of where we are is very earthy.  Whereas, if we had a much grander view, say we could actually just see from way beyond the knwon Universe (say our perception includes *at least* two known "Universes"), looking into the known Universe (I got a kick out of an astronomy book's way of explaining the "Universe" ... haha ...), maybe earth could still be a point A, but we would be percieving it much differently from the grander view than from only the view of standing right upon it -- which is how MOST of mankind seems to experience it.

For the most part though, I am definitely not talking about particals and waves and such, though I realize those are part of perception and I am not saying they aren't.  But, just like I experience music as something much more than some kind of waves and particals, I can only guess that life is also much more than these, as well.  Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I don't believe in actually "empty space" in any part of the Universe (though I do comprehend that perception would argue otherwise) ... similiarly to how I believe a rest or silence in music is not empty.

[thalbergmad]

Foxy, you should read " A brief history of time".

Thal

[m1469]

Thaly, at first I thought it was a joke because it's actually quite a comical title (is it supposed to be funny?), but then the magic google showed me it's a real and serious book.  I will be interested to read .  I also got madly hungry for mathematics recently ... like I just want to eat it into my universal belly.

Thanks!  

[ted]

I had no idea you were interested in mathematics ! I thought about little else in my youth, and now I have more time in retirement I am easing myself back into it - it forms a nice balance with music. What branches of mathematics do you enjoy working in ?

[birba]

Foxy, you should read " A brief history of time".

Thal

I thought everyone had read that!  Because it's written by a genius for EVERYONE to understand and enjoy.

[thalbergmad]

Well, it looks like Foxy has not read it

Indeed it sold millions and rightly so. A much better read than "The Arrow of Time" which i did not understand.

Thal

[m1469]

Well, it looks like Foxy has not read it

Yeah, believe me, it's no surprise at all.  I feel like I've literally barely read anything in my life, I don't even know how I know how to read at all!  Probably because of this forum ... hee hee ... where I've recieved a large portion of my in/formal education .  There's a HUGE list of things I've never read, never seen, never done ... hmmm ... for example, I don't know the stories behind most of the Operas in the world and people treat me like I do.  I've only seen one live Opera in my entire life and have probably watched one other on video.  Do you hear that world?  Yeah.  I've seen three different symphony orchestras in my entire life.  Okay?  Let's just get this all out in the open!  So, if anybody wants to dig around about what I don't know, believe me, you don't have to dig very far!  Oh well.  I'm doing the best I can.  I welcome people to donate to my education fund so I can spend time getting educated like all the rest of everybody .

I had no idea you were interested in mathematics ! I thought about little else in my youth, and now I have more time in retirement I am easing myself back into it - it forms a nice balance with music. What branches of mathematics do you enjoy working in ?

Hi Ted, yes, actually I am quite interested in mathematics.  I've of course not actually taken a class nor actually studied for ages upon ages ... but it's somehow always present.  To me, somehow I am adding up and working equations that go like "Okay.  Mountain, plus sky, plus sun ..." hmmmm ... there was a time though before I stopped coping with school that I was doing quite well in mathematics (way before I stopped taking math classes).  AND, it was an area that my dad and I could relate and he would help me with my homework.  Algebras were fun, I didn't care for geometry, though I suspect that had largely to do with me at the time in my life and my teacher, vs. the math itself.  I went through trigonometry but that's pretty much it.  I had always wished to at least understand all of those thouroughly as well as Calculus.  My life just ... argh.

Anyway!  

[ahinton]

Well, it looks like Foxy has not read it

Indeed it sold millions and rightly so. A much better read than "The Arrow of Time" which i did not understand.

Ah, but what about the orchestral piece Time's Arrow, then? Have you heard that? You should. It's brilliant!

Best,

Alistair

[thalbergmad]

I have not heard it and cannot spare the time at the mo as it is my Daniel Lesur weekend.

Thal

[gep]

Well, it looks like Foxy has not read it

Indeed it sold millions and rightly so. A much better read than "The Arrow of Time" which i did not understand.

Thal

Talking about time and its arrow, here's a thought. According to Einstein's theory, anything that would travel at the speed of light (in a vacuum) would experience time to shrink to 0 (i.e the time dilation would become infinite) and space to shrink to 0. Hence, a photon that was emitted at the moment of last scattering after the Big Bang (some 300,000 after the Big Bang), and is received now on Earth, has been traveling at the speed of light all the way (13,7 BILLION light years that is). But for that photon, because of its traveling at the speed of light, NO time has passed, and NO space has been travelled. So one could say that, to that photon, there is no time and no space. Then how can it exist, if it experiences no time and no space to exist in?

Your explanations please...

All best,
gep

[thalbergmad]

I have read that time and space does not exist for a Photon.

Too much for my brain to understand and I am only a cactus.

I try not to dwell on such things. I don't want to end up like Boltzmann.

Thal

[littletune]

I didn't know that about the photon and that it's like no time has passed and no space has been travelled... but it seems kinda logical to me  because you shouldn't really think about these things like the way they are in our universe but like it would be outside of our universe    or any universe  I don't know I'm not that good at explaining what I think about these things  Maybe after a while I can explain what I think better     

[ahinton]

I have not heard it and cannot spare the time at the mo as it is my Daniel Lesur weekend.

Well, good for you in exploring the work of Daniel-hyphen-Lesur but, if you don't mind, I'd rather like to remind you (if indeed you require such reminding) that the gestation of Time's Arrow happens to have been rather closer to Britain than that of the work of this particular French composer - so maybe if not this weekend, then some time soon...

Best,

Alistair

[thalbergmad]

OK, I pencil it in for weekend after next listening session.

That is of course if I survive Andre Tchaikovsky next weekend.

Thal

[richard black]

Don't overlook Boris Tchaikovsky too.

[thalbergmad]

Nor Alexander.

Thal

[thalbergmad]

Andre Tchaikovsky listening session cancelled. Could not last more than 8 minutes through his so called piano concerto.

Thal

[ahinton]

Then why delay with Time's Arrow?

Best,

Alistair

[thalbergmad]

Because I need to go back to the 19th Century to recover.

Now, where did I put me Reinecke?

Thal

[thalbergmad]

Here is a photo of Andre Tchaikovsky.

Incredibly, he is the one on the right.

Thal

[m1469]

I am becoming convinced that mankind's highest achievements are an entire life mostly uknown to mankind.  Perhaps we have created some incredible (to us) things, and perhaps we have accomplished amazing (to us) feats, but nothing quite compares with the decision that was made to do it, and the lifetime on every side of that decision.

[pianowolfi]

I am becoming convinced that mankind's highest achievements are an entire life mostly uknown to mankind.  Perhaps we have created some incredible (to us) things, and perhaps we have accomplished amazing (to us) feats, but nothing quite compares with the decision that was made to do it, and the lifetime on every side of that decision.

...like being able to see and think clearly and deeply
Some amazing accomplishments of mankind sound like this one of your's. I think I feel like I can hear the sound

[thalbergmad]

You is definately both on the same weed.

Thal

[birba]

Yeah, I want some!

[gep]

Andre Tchaikovsky listening session cancelled. Could not last more than 8 minutes through his so called piano concerto.

Thal

Following your recommendation, I searched for this Concerto (I assume you mean his Opus 4 Concerto, not the earlier one?). I must say that, after hearing it once in a performance by Andre Tchaikovsky himself (a very badly recorded live performance), I must disagree with you. Yes, it is a modern sounding work, very detailed, multi-facetted and multi-layered, but quite listenable (disregarding the recorded sound; it was recorded 1978 or so, so why does it sound like 1928??). I will seek out the other recordings too, hopefully they are better. But an interesting work, something like the Goehr Concerto or simillar. So thank you for putting it on my path!

all best,
gep

[thalbergmad]

I must disagree with you.

I would be worried if you did agree. I will keep you posted on all the works I cannot stand.

Time's arrow??

Thal

[ahinton]

I would be worried if you did agree. I will keep you posted on all the works I cannot stand.

If you were to do that, you'd show that you have far too much spare time on your hands.

Time's arrow??

What about it?

Best,

Alistair

[thalbergmad]

If you were to do that, you'd show that you have far too much spare time on your hands.

It is true, I do have too much time on my hands.

One of the great advantages of being single.

Thal

[m1469]

I'm *ridiculously* sleepy right now.  It's like I've been hit by the great sledge hammer of sleepies for the past hour.  Siesta hour.  It's a real doozy for me.  I don't teach this week, yet I am only partially through my practicing for the day.  I feel intimidated by the rest of my practicing for the day.  argh.  And, all I want to do is nothing.  In my sweatpants.

*mentally drags herself off the couch and back to the piano* ... Okay, one thing.  Just do one thing.


zzzzz ... *tink, tink* zzzzz ... *tink, tink* zzzz ... *tink, tink ... taaaaaa* zzzzz

[littletune]

I am doing great now because it's snowing today!!!     and I have been practicing piano a lot and I really like the Sonatina that I'm learning (my first sonatina ever!!)     

[pianowolfi]

I am doing great now because it's snowing today!!!     and I have been practicing piano a lot and I really like the Sonatina that I'm learning (my first sonatina ever!!)     

Today I learnt a very cute song about snow

[littletune]

Today I learnt a very cute song about snow

Really? that's coooooooool!!!     

[pianowolfi]

Really? that's coooooooool!!!      

Yes it's in Swiss German and it goes:

Schnee, Schnee, Schnee
Mir wette ganz viel Schnee
Dicki Wulche chum doch abe
Tue'ne Huffe Schnee ablade
Schnee, Schnee Schnee
Mir wette ganz viel Schnee

(Snow, Snow Snow
We want a lot of Snow
Oh you thick cloud please come down
Bring us loads of Snow!
Snow Snow Snow
we want a lot of Snow)

[birba]

Uust my thoughts, precisely.  except when you live near Rome, it's sort of difficult...

[littletune]

Yes it's in Swiss German and it goes:

Schnee, Schnee, Schnee
Mir wette ganz viel Schnee
Dicki Wulche chum doch abe
Tue'ne Huffe Schnee ablade
Schnee, Schnee Schnee
Mir wette ganz viel Schnee

(Snow, Snow Snow
We want a lot of Snow
Oh you thick cloud please come down
Bring us loads of Snow!
Snow Snow Snow
we want a lot of Snow)

That's a cool song and Swiss German is cool too! Thanks for writing it Wolfi! I wouldn't understand everything if you didn't write it in English too! Specially not the third line. You say "mir" instead of "wir"? How do you say "mir" then ? Well thanks cool