Wedding Readings -- Bible or Odyssey?

Today I was back in my home town for the wedding of one of my friends (and it was a great ceremony with a happy couple. Beautiful catholic church, and the usual formalities for such a case. There was the traditional reading of certain passages from the Bible for how marriages are supposed to be, or the nature of love, but there was a reading I hadn't heard before, from the Book of Tobit.

Tobit isn't in most Bibles and considered part of the apocrypha, though it is in Catholic and Orthodox canons. The reading was Tobit 8:4-9.

But this had me thinking about how Tobit is a book with much taken from the works of Homer, namely the Odyssey, as scholars such a Dennis MacDonald has have argued. And this had me think: there is a significant love story in the Odyssey between Odysseus and Persephone. Even after 20 years apart, they want to be together; Odysseus had gone to fight in the 10-year Trojan War and took another 10 years to return do to make a happenstance along the way. Yet Penelope remained loyal even with suitors living in the palace of Ithaca for all that time. (Odysseus also loved Penelope, but apparently he was not grieved with the guilt of other other ladies he bedded along the way home; he's not perfect by our standards, but apparently this was OK on ancient Greek morality.)

So perhaps there are some lines that would be good for a wedding occasion? I'm looking online for some examples, but I haven't seen so much there that I like. Hardly a rush to find something, but my own long-distance relationship can find some correlation with the Homeric epic. Any suggestions? Maybe the Aeneid will have something better?

The DC Rally

I had the good fortune to have the time to go to Washington DC for the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear under the coordination of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, of the Daily Show and Colbert Report respectively. The event was simply awesome. The music was good, the weather was perfect, and the event overall was a success.

Estimates for the rally are around 215,000 people according to a CBS-funded areal survey. Being there, I can definitely say it was huge, and over 100,000 in number. The density was impressive, but then again there were places selling food, such as friend candy. If this was a normal meal, I don't think all could have fitted onto the National Mall.

The event proved to be well-organized, from the stage performances, video montages, interaction between live performer and video recorded actor, not to mention the set-up of the jumbo-trons, speakers (very good for me since I was about 2/3rds the way in the crowd from the stage), bathrooms, and getting people to the right places. Heck, getting Cat Stevens and Ozzy Osborne on the same stage was impressive enough. And the Mythbusters trying to measure the immensity of the crowd by finding out how long a "wave" at the front would move to the back and the seismological effect of everyone jumping at the same time was awesome. When they were announced as next on stage, my friend Adam and I knew it was worth the cost of coming in the first place.

And the point of the rally? I didn't care if there was no political point because I pretty much got to go to a 3-hour Daily Show. But there was a point, and one I think reasonably well made. There has been so much hyperbole in the news and politics that it becomes impossible to try to be reasonable in what should be done in any given situation. If you think your opponent is Hitler or a witch, then it is hard to compromise on something.

Unfortunately, some didn't quite get that message. PZ Myers certainly missed it, but perhaps because he admittedly didn't watch the whole thing, or perhaps even the most important parts. Also, I think PZ is reading into the rally because he sees similarities with some of the accommodationist camp to stop being so aggressive. In reality, Steward et. al. did not attack being deep-felt or impassioned about one's opinions, but the dialog that is simply loud and obnoxious rather than reasoned. For example, just because some Muslims attacked the US in 2001 does not mean all Muslims are terrorists. Even if you think there are problems with Islam or believe it has evil parts (which I do think), you don't need to say all Muslims are evil to make a point. Also, PZ is off when he says Stewart called out those on the right for their hyperbole/propaganda, but didn't name-names or particulars with liberals. In reality, the rally masters didn't use names from either side, but instead did something better: a montage of the crazy. Colbert's montage of the divisive dialog from various TV sources showed the problem. This included clips from Glen Beck and Rill O'Reilly of Fox News (conservatives) and Keith Olbermann and Ed Schultz of MSNBC (liberals). So in reality, Stewart and Colbert point to the very examples of the sorts of things that are making the discourse in America all the more difficult. So when PZ says

Once again, we have someone bravely standing up and telling the people on their own side to stop being dicks, while being vague on the names and specifics.

he is completely wrong.

Moreover, the rally was about the irrationality of what there is to worry about in the world. Again, a montage of clips from various media sources showed the size of the "fear market", such as the world destroyed by CERN, to terrorists, to sandals, to killer bees, to communists, to sandals, etc. There were also clips of various persons using blanket statements about atheists, Muslims, fundamentalist Christians, and so on, all amazingly stupid and useless in making a sensible understanding of what to do or think.

The rally was also to highlight how the media and politics was so unlike the real world. They gave a wonderful example. They showed car traffic in DC with everyone on the road making little compromises of who merges next, and how even though they are almost of every possible opinion of things they can get on through their lives through little compromises. So when someone rides the curb to get past the rest and cut off others, he is rare and scorned. Most importantly, he is not hired as an analyst. Instead, on cable TV, you don't call upon the smartest, best-informed person but the loud-mouth that brings in ratings.

So, was the rally a success? The crowd size suggests that it was more-so than Glen Beck's Rally to Restore Honor which brought in around 87,000. At more than twice the size, does that mean twice the impact? I doubt it since the message of "be sensible" is not as powerful a rallying cry as "take back America" (from what?). I really doubt there will be any changes for the upcoming election cycle, but perhaps the 2012 election period will be affected by the promotion of the values proclaimed at this rally. Maybe there will be another in the future?

Before wrapping up, I must also comment about the signs made by the various attendees. There was much creativity there. Perhaps the best I saw had a picture of Sigmund Freud and the text "So America, tell me about your mother." Brilliant. Others include "Thomas Jefferson is my co-pilot"; "Meh"; "Pancakes"; and "Answer this: How much profit is Sharpe making from all of this?"

Crime Doesn't Pay

I will be going to the airport soon, and this not long after coming from a trans-Atlantic round-trip a couple of weeks ago. I don't mind plane rides other than it's impossible to lay back far enough to sleep well. At least that's the case in coach. A few hundred more dollars, maybe I'll enjoy a higher class seat. As long as I have a book and an occasional drink, all if fine.

But what kills me is waiting for getting on the plane. Obviously between connecting flights you need some layover time or potentially miss a flight. On my most recent round-trip, I had a seven hour layover in Chicago. I knew that going in, but the plane had mechanical problems. This added another two hours or so of waiting. This waiting period became longer than the actual flight! You can't read anything that long without your eyes burning out. And with $9 crappy beer in a plastic cup, it's hard to make the time go well.

It almost feels criminal, and in fact I think it is. The airports are literally killing. Killing time.

The shear level of chronocide is astounding. There has to be a better way. Unfortunately, with the complexity of the machines involved and the large numbers of people to operate and who need to travel, it's hard to get past the problem. Other than everyone gets flying cars or teleporters, I don't know what can solve this.

What can make mass transit more efficient?

I can think of one thing: make chronocide criminal. That is, if you have to wait longer for a plane than you should, that should be compensated financially. Perhaps this will give an incentive to airlines to find ways of minimizing delays. Inter-airline competition obviously has not eliminated such delays, probably since all airlines are willing to accept delays and so creates a plateau of wasted time no one can avoid. But if chronocide becomes too expensive for airports and airlines, maybe that could change it.

Deutchland!

I'm off again to see the girl I love, who is now only two flights away. If all goes well, in less than 24 hours I can feel happy, not to mention not be crowded on an airplane.

Back at CERN

Well, I have decided to cross over the ocean again and come to CERN where they hope to get started up in November. I have been working with the ATLAS group at my university, particularly with some of the optical electronics that will next to the beam of ions traveling through at nearly the speed of light. The plan is that CERN will begin late this year, starting at about half power, move up in energy, start accelerating hydrogen first and then later lead ions, and finally (by 2011) reach full power. This gives time to test everything and let the users get a handle on the machine while also getting some data. Once it does start, it will blow Fermilab out of the water when it comes to power, but it will be some time until enough statistics can be gathered to rival the Tevatron.

Until then, there is work to be done.

Recent Stellar Developments

It's been a very busy month with classes, labs, and all the things that make graduate student life so much, let's say, fun. Much time gets consumed by homework from classes like statistical mechanics, but there has still been some time at least to travel to someone special and to relax a bit a read a book or two.

More interestingly, there is a comet up in the sky right now, Lulin, but it below fifth magnitude so it's pretty much impossible for me to see in the city. However, if you can, check it out while it's around; the comet is around Saturn right now, close to the constellation Leo, so it is up almost all night.

Speaking of stars, I have perused the Internet to find a website that went after my article in S&T from 2007, along with pretty much all of biblical studies that came down against the historicity of the Star of Bethlehem. I contacted the creator of the long web article about a couple of things that I thought were erroneous, such as comets were not seen as evil omens in Babylon (the Enuma Ana Enlil and MUL.APIN say otherwise), the Greek verb proago does not mean lead or go forward (it does, and it certainly does so in the context of Matt 2:9), epano does not mean to be right over a particular place (completely false), that proago was in the imperfect aorist tense (such a tense is impossible linguistically and logically), and so on. After some exchange the main page of the article has been taken down, for revisions I suspect. Another of his pages mentions revisions, but I haven't noticed any, at least not important ones.

Since our exchange, he hasn't contact me concerning my last statements, but life is time consuming, so I don't necessarily take it to be an attempt to dodge my points. Perhaps he is researching my arguments. Perhaps he will show the errors of my way, along with most of biblical scholarship and all scholars of the world that say comets were almost universally seen as evil omens--in particular, the author does not provide a single primary or secondary source that says Babylonians or Persians saw comets as positive omens, while I have provided primary sources to the contrary.

As for articles, it appears that I will be having one of my own writings published in the Journal of Higher Criticism in the near future. Under the new publishing system, the next issue will come out when there is at least 150 pages of material. Currently, it is up to 94 pages. It makes me so impatient, but good things come to those who wait. None the less, this means that I will have something published in a biblical studies journal! That should already give me more credibility than most all researchers into the Star of Bethlehem who haven't published in peer-reviewed biblical or theological journals in about a generation, and almost never astronomers.

With all that out of the way, it's time to get to work, and travel back to Michigan. Monday night at Michigan State, biologist and well-known atheist Richard Dawkins will begin touring the US on a speaking run. I plan on going. And if someone has a lot of cash, give it to Ray Comfort so he can give it to Richard Dawkins. Well, perhaps not. Why give to Mr. Comfort and give him enough credence, believing that he can actually produce a coherent argument against, well, most anything, let along evolutionary science.

Weddings!

So far, January has been nice and crazy. The new President certainly is worth talking about, and already the politics is getting hot. The winter storms recently have certainly made life a bit odd, considering the university actually closed yesterday. That never happened when I was at MSU, and the last time it did in 1994 was when the wind chill was 40F below, considered possibly lethal to walking students. It wasn't that bad here in Ohio, but the roads were supposed to have been aweful.

But what is making this month eventful for me are weddings. There are two this month, and in both I'm a groomsman. The first was a couple of weeks ago, and the next is on the last day of the month. This means a lot of tux fitting and a lot of driving. Not to mention lots of bachelor parties, including in other nations--Canada. Of course, I do like looking nice and dancing crazy with my girlfriend, but there is a lot of running around to be done, especially when I have to drive for more than four hours just to get to any one location I need to be in for Michigan events. But, in the end, it is worth it.

Also, the newest issue of Sky & Telescope has hit news stands, so my letter to the editor should be in there, but I haven't checked yet. I wonder what responses I can expect. I bet this will make an interesting February.

To the State of Confusion . . . er, Ohio

In less than a weak now, I will be moving to my new alma matter, the Ohio State University. It's odd that they start about a month after all other universities, but this have given me some time to do research that I could not possibly have the time for once graduate classes start. I have seen how absorbing of time they are for my girlfriend (whom I love). However, I won't mind joining a school with a winning football team!

I king of want to get started though. To get back into the swing of physics problems would be nice, especially if in my first semester I can do quantum theory. I'd rather do that over classical mechanics or electromagnetism. If you ever took grad-level physics, you know why this is what I desire. But, I have to get through it anyways.

I wonder how much CERN is going to be a part of my classes as well since they have begun accelerating particles there. As of now, first collisions are supposed to happen on Oct 21 of this year. However, it will be a long, long time before useful statistics are collected, and come Christmas Cern will be turned off for repairs. There won't be any discoveries of the Higg's boson by the end of this year then, at least not at CERN, and I doubt Fermilab will come from behind and demonstrate the existence of this last particle of the Standard Model. Yet, it is still more likely than CERN destroying the world--by the way, CERN cannot destroy the world even if the scientists tried.

As for CERN, my good friend has posted some answers to questions about the LHC at her blog. She was asked by the school newspaper to answer these questions and she made them more accessible this way. Good stuff, mein Schatz.

Well, time for me to pack.

CERN

Well, I am here now at CERN, the gigantic European particle accelerator which will be searching for the all-powerful Higgs Boson. Well, it would be all-powerful if it exists.

So, until then, let me assure you this is NOT happening:



. . . or is it?

Leavin', on a Jet Plane

Well, I'm off to cross the pond again in order to see someone very special to me. At the moment, the bus is taking me to the airport, and in about 18 hours I will (hopefully) be on the ground in Germany.

I just hope I can sleep well on the flight. With my luck, there will be a six-month old right behind me. Oh well.