Peonies look like alien life forms when they are sprouting

In a few weeks they will look like regular Earth-plants. Meanwhile cue Strauss

dbp

Tulips=Spring!

We received these bulbs from Kerry and Nithin. Very Nice!

dbp

Just a little self-justifying commentary on the race last week...

I ran the Groton Road Race last week and took almost two minutes off my time from last year. Alert readers will notice though, that I did not do as well in terms of overall placement or standing in my age group.

There is a reason for this: There were a lot more runners this year and they were faster than last year. This year, the race was selected as a "Grand Prix Race"

USA Track & Field's New England chapter (USATF-NE) has selected the Groton Road Race 10K to be the championship race in its 2007 Grand Prix series. Elite runners from throughout the region will gather in Groton to test their mettle on our renowned course and to compete for points toward the Grand Prix individual and team championships.

So last year I came in 103rd out of 446 and 36th out of 95 in my age group. This year I was 326th out of 912 and 84th out of 197 in my age group.

A very simple statistic can sometimes be a very powerfull one: In this case the median time tells a huge story.

Here we look at the middle place finisher in each year: Last year 53:03 this year 48:37!

dbp

Happy Birthday Carol!

Testing Map My Run

Just checking out how to embed routes from Map MY Run Link to the website... Embedded code follows... The link seems to work, but I don't see anything from the embedded code. Update: Help from Jeff has fixed the problem!

Photoblogging the Groton Road Race

I am in the above and below pictures--kind of a 'find waldo' type thing though.

I would bring attention here to three ladies: (the below picture) All are wearing black shorts, one with a gold shirt, one red and one in light purple.
I only slightly remember goldie, I must have passed her since she ended up finishing 15 or 20 seconds behind me. Red and purple though, I saw throughout the race. We passed and re-passed each other multiple times. By the end, red beat me by more than 30 seconds and you can see purple behind me in one of the finish line pictures.
Note: If you click onto a picture, you get a larger view of it. Surging to the end, and getting beat there by a 19 year old. Still happy with the result:

326 659 DAVID PECCHIA 44 M 85/198 M4049 CHELMSFORD MA 44:41 7:12 Which is better than last year's time:
103 128 DAVID PECCHIA 43 M 36/95 M4049 CHELMSFORD MA 46:31 7:31 Which was itself much better than the year before that:
133 120 DAVID PECCHIA 46/100 M4049 CHELMSFORD MA 49:30 7:59
All pictures are from Jim Rhoades The Runner

I've always been troubled by this...

There is this old feminist slogan, which has always troubled me: My reasons were always inchoate and would have remained so but for Jane Galt who pointed to a "feminist rant" at Todd Seavey Much as I like and respect Jane, I would have called what Todd posted a polemic rather than a rant.
In any case, there is a long and highly charged commentary thread at the end of the piece and the whole radical notion came up--more on this later, but for the moment let us just say it reminded me of the slogan.
So, what is wrong with the slogan? I guess what I don't like about it is that it is pretty obviously dishonest.

1. Since everybody thinks that women are people, it is not a radical notion at all. It is better described as common sense or just obvious.

2. Feminism goes well beyond this little "radical notion". If it didn't then everyone would be a feminist and the whole exercise would be pointless.

3. If feminists really believe that it is radical to believe that women are people, then logically they must believe that most people disagree with the statement since a thing is only radical when a small minority believe it. It follows then, that they are either paranoid or very much out of touch with reality.

I always figured that not even the most radical feminist would actually believe the slogan on the button. It was just a bit of strategy: Any fair minded person would agree that women are people and thus feel good about the idea of feminism.

Now we get back to Todd Seavey's post: In the thread, someone asked what it would take for (another poster) to allow that women are people?

Here is the response...

I’m genuinely curious: What, exactly, would have to change for you to believe that “society” *did* behave as if women were people? I’m not Red Stapler, but I’ll take a crack at this. A society — and by this I mean, approximately, the prevailing attitudes and practises in the United States, since that’s where I live — where women were treated like people, like equals, would look something like this to me: We’d have an approximately equal number of male and female presidential candidates. And Supreme Court nominees, and congresspeople, and state governors… An equal number of men and women would be raped every year (and that number would, I’m guessing, be rather smaller than it is now). Ditto the numbers on sexual violence perpetrators. If there were a disagreement on the consensuality of a sexual act, one party’s word would not be taken over the other’s as a matter of course without other evidence. Advertisements would be equally as likely to use a man as a woman in an attempt to use sex to sell the product, and they’d be dressed equally skimpily. There would not be a significant difference in pay between women and men, overall. I’m not saying all jobs would be evenly split between the genders, but that if you took a slice of people doing similar (education requirements, position in the company heirarchy, experience generally required to reach that position, etc) work, you wouldn’t see a difference in pay between men and women. And that the “most traditionally female” jobs would not pay, as a rule, less than the ones with the most men working them. One would be equally likely to encounter women as men at any point in a given hierarchy, and as many men would have a female boss as women would have a male one. It would be equally normal for a man as a woman to be the stay-at-home parent. Women would not be discriminated against in hiring because it was assumed that they would take time off or leave to have children. Women and men who chose to have a lot of casual sex would generally be treated equally because of it. Ditto people who chose to have no sex. Both sexes would receive equal education on and be considered to bear equal responsibility for practicing safer sex. I’m sure there are several more important things that would be different in a country or world where we behaved like the genders were differentiated mostly by their plumbing and not by their intrinsic social status, but I can’t think of them at the moment. I hope these provide food for thought on the ways in which women are *not* treated like this right now in the US, and why that might be. Allie | 7:35 am on the 25th of April, 2007

I guess it is really a radical notion after all! I just didn't realize that by women = people, what they actually meant was complete acceptance of a fairly comprehensive agenda that most people would not agree to.

They were honest after all, you just have to know their code.

dbp

The Power of Green By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

The article is 11 pages long, so don't expect a point by point critique... I agree that it would be good for the U.S. if oil prices fell and part of that would be that it would defund some of our enemies. I will cry no tears if Hugo Chavez comes up a little short, or if the Saudi's need to cut-back on radical madrasa funding. The problems are two and they are related: How can we decrease the price of oil? If we somehow reduce the price of oil, won't that stimulate demand, and then short-out his other concern--global warming? His solution set can be summed up as, "conservation". With the rapidly industrializing economies of India and China, this strikes me as absurd. We could stop the use of oil completly and in ten years, they will have sopped-up all the oil we saved. I have a better and more "American" style solution: Why don't we turn our efforts to finding a new and better source for oil or better yet a replacement entirely. As a first baby-step how about ANWR? Follow this with the big step of nuclearising our electricty production: It is now about 80% coal and 15% nuke. We have about 100 reactors, so 500 more would cover all of our electric needs and free up our coal for other uses. (I put an extra hundred reactors in the calculation to allow for increased demand) While we are at it, why not have our new reactors use Thorium? It has got some nice advantages over conventional uranium reactors. How about we turn our coal into oil the way the South Africans have figured out how to do? Or make an extra 500 atomic plants and use the power to extract oil from shale? If we flood the market with oil, we would be doing a huge favor to third-world nations trying to develop and it would stick a shiv in the side of a bunch of oil-producing bad-guys. It sure would be nicer than converting our food (corn) into fuel (Ethanol), which causes higher food costs to people who spend a large fraction of their income on food. Win win.

A Scanner Darkly (2006)

I saw A Scanner Darkly last night. This will not be a full review, just a couple of observations: Just a note that I have read a lot of Philip K. Dick, but not this one--for what it is worth. Okay the Movie: Meh. It was late and perhaps if I was less tired I could have followed it. Highlights: The roles played by Robert Downey Jr. and Woody Harrelson, especially how they interact with each other. Another thing: I did read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and saw the movie when it came out. I am a fan of Johnny Dep but the movie just did not capture the tone of the book. Now take Robert Downey Jr. and the character he played in Scanner and you have perfect casting and direction for Fear and Loathing. dbp

Training Log

Course:..............Time:-----Distance:.....Date:

Faun Lake............42:06 -----5.5 .........4/18/07

Nutting Lake.........29:34 -----3.5 .........4/19/07

Nutting Lake.........27:40 -----3.5 .........4/20/07

Rangeway loop........96:01 -----10.5 ........4/21/07(thought I was having a stroke)

Nutting Lake.........28:37 -----3.5..........4/23/07 It was hot

Bedford neiborhood...33:38 -----4.1..........4/25/07

Nutting Lake-plus....40:45------4.5..........4/26/07

Groton 10K...........44:41------6.2..........4/29/07 (PR) Annual Race

Nutting Lake.........29:45------3.5..........4/30/07 Recovery run

Bedford neiborhood...33:57------4.1..........5/1/07 Another recovery run, still sore from Sunday.

Nutting Lake.........29:41------3.5..........5/2/07

Faun Lake............46:34------5.5..........5/3/07

Nutting Lake.........29:25------3.5..........5/4/07

Cranberry Bog........80:36-----10.0..........5/5/07

Wow! 36.3 miles last week. I don't think I have done that many since High School--except for that Summer day right after High School ended when I did 40 miles in one day as part of the MS charity run across the state of Washington.

Nutting Lake.........28:51------3.5..........5/7/07

Bedford neiborhood...34:31------4.1..........5/8/07

Nutting Lake.........28:52------3.5..........5/9/07

Nutting Lake.........27:12------3.5..........5/10/07--(PR)

Faun Lake............42:37 -----5.5 .........5/11/07

New Carlisle loop....87:11-----10.54.........5/13/07 3:11 too much time!

Nutting lake.........31:39------3.5..........5/14/07 Recovery from above lackluster performance

Bedford Neiborhood..33:20-------4.1..........5/15/07

Nutting lake plus...37:17-------4.5..........5/16/07

Nutting Lake........28:05-------3.5..........5/17/07 Ran with Matt

Faun Lake...........41:01-------5.5..........5/18/07 Ran with Ross (PR)

I should note here that this time is more than one minute faster than my previous best time for this course. I have run this course more than 45 times. In fact, this pace is better than what I did last year in the Groton Road Race. So, I am either improving or just trying much harder.

Looks like this is becoming a blog-within-a-blog. How meta is that?

I didn't run over the weekend due to having a cold, plus it was rainy and dreary all weekend.

Nutting Lake........28:00-------3.5..........5/21/07 Still have a cold, whatever.

Bedford Neiborhood..36:15-------4.1..........5/22/07 Ran with Matt, his girlfriend made his legs weak.

Bedford Neiborhood..32:05-------4.1..........5/23/07 Ran alone

Note: I have actually been running most days, but have neglected to enter it.

Nutting Lake plus Bedford 55:30---6.0.......6/01/07--Really stinking hot. Ran with Ted, he had wanted an easy run and was not happy. Sorry Ted, I really did not expect it to be so stinking hot.

Cranberry bog....9-10----78:30........6/03/07--misting rain cool and nice.

Nutting lake......3.5----28:28........6/04/07--Raining cats and dogs, deployed band-aids (you know where)

Middlesex cc----4.3......36:44........6/05/07--Hot and muggy, felt sluggish

Bedford neiborhood---4.1...35:40......6/6/07--Ran with Ted, really nice day.

Bedford neighborhood-4.1...31:25......5/4/09--Stopped to give an old lady directions

Faun Lake.....5.5.....42:20.....7:42/mile....5/8/09

Kurt Vonnegut, RIP

In Rememberance I re-read Harrison Bergeron today. It is quite good. I guess he (largly) didn't let his left wing crankery get in the way of good writing. This should be noted with approval. I've read and enjoyed a lot of what he wrote, but at least with his novels, afterword, I couldn't really tell you what they were about. In this respect they are much like dreams: They make sense while you are having them, but when you wake up the details fade and whatever parts of the plot you remember make no sense at all. One thing which I always thought he said, but it could have been someone else... Something to the effect that he continued to smoke in the hope that cigarettes would eventually kill him. This because he would never get up the nerve to just shoot himself in the head. I always took that as a fairly brilliant way to deflect the constant nagging he must have gotten to quit smoking. In fact he lived to be 84 and didn't die from a smoking-related illness. Here is Harrison Bergeron.

Our day at Disney Animal Kingdom

Before we went on this trip, I had heard of Animal Kingdom but didn't know anything about it. In fact, the first bit of information I saw was a brochure, used for planning our visit on the night before we went to that park. Animal Kingdom closes at 5:00 in the afternoon, which is much earlier than the other parks close and yet it seemed like we did more in that day than the days when we went to the other parks. We went on a safari and saw lots of big African animals--like elephants, giraffes, hippos and rhinos. Also in Africa, we saw an animal show with lots of birds flying around doing tricks. We saw an insect's life show in the tree of life and then got wet in the Kali Rapids river ride. This wetness was just a taste of things to come as right after lunch, we all got drenched in a sudden downpour while waiting in line for the Finding Nemo show. The show was only around 30 minutes long, but when we came out of it, it was a bright sunny day and we finally all got dry. After that we did the Himalaya adventure and then some kind of walk through a park where there were animals, like giant bats, at various places along the trail. dbp

Himalaya Adventure

Disney's Animal Kingdom is divided into sections: The Asia section is dominated by a Himalayan mountain. From far away and from up-close, it looks very real. Of course there is a ride and a back-story. The area approaching the mountain contains a Himalayan village. The plot of the ride is that a railway was made through the mountains so that it would be easy to approach Mt. Everest, but the Yeti doesn't like his territory invaded like that. While on the roller-coaster ride, the monster tears up the tracks, leading to hijinx! If I recall correctly, Surenna didn't want to be in this picture, but was a good girl and did as she was asked. Jemma on the other hand did not want to be in the picture and was not a good girl about it.

The Tree of Life.

The Tree of life is a sort of centerpiece of Disney's Animal Kingdom. Several impressions: It is huge. It is molded so that there are the images of animals embedded in the tree, much like the way fossils are embedded in rock outcroppings. Of course there is an attraction in the tree--a sort of insect based 3-D film (with special effects) The special effects relate to the film. So for example, in the film some insects spray acid toward the crowd and water (not acid) sprays out of the seat in front of you. It is kind of like seeing the Rocky Horror Picture Show, without the kinkyness. dbp

2nd Disney update

Our main PC is old and prone to locking up when I post pictures, so please have patience if you are waiting to see Disney pictures. Oddly, Surenna's Mac Mini which is, unlike this computer, on our wireless network works faster and better. I will try and use our PC though since I wouldn't want to prevent Surenna from importaint stuff like playing games on the Hanna Montana website. Also, if my readers want to see all the Disney postings without all of the non-disney introns, please just use the search function: In the upper left corner of the page you can enter a term (such as Disney) and then click onto 'search this blog' and it will return only those entries which contain the word you choose. dbp

Disney blogging update...

I have gotten so far behind in posting on our Disney trip that I think I will just randomly post pictures which are interesting rather than going through the whole trip in chronological order. Partly, I have lost interest in the project and partly I have just forgotten a lot of the details now that it has been almost two months since we were there. dbp

The joy of old bias, seemingly vindicated

The news radio on the way to work made note of the following story:

(Geneva-AP) March 28, 2007 - UN health agencies are recommending that heterosexual men undergo circumcision. They say there is "compelling" evidence that it can reduce their chances of contracting HIV by up to 60 percent.

Considering how simple the procedure is and how great the benefit, this would seem to be the classic case of 'low hanging fruit'. I had sometime in the past, just out of idle curiosity, researched the topic. My take-away opinion was that the procedure was at worst pretty much harmless and at best seemed to decrease the risk for some pretty vile urinary illnesses. I also came across today a study looking at bias in decision-making when the decision would have an effect on the decision-maker. From the latest Science News

People who suffer damage to a brain area that generates compassion, shame, and other social sentiments apply coldly rational thinking to hypothetical moral dilemmas, even those that involve terrible personal loss, a team of neuroscientists finds.

And of course, those of us who lack brain damage (who are you saying lacks brain damage?) do not apply coldly rational thinking when it involves themselves. Now, I am either circumcised or not, but one thing is clear. I didn't have anything to do with the decision and in fact it was so routine when I was born that there really wasn't any decision-making being done. dbp

Blogging out of order again, but still...

After visiting Disney, we traveled to the other coast of Florida to visit my parents. While we were there we had to go to the beach and it just happened to be a cold and blustery day, with rain. Still, one cannot keep a five year old from enjoying the surf. Or playing in the sand. dbp ps. Thanks to my mom for the photographs she sent--which I scanned.

Major Appliances--Major Headache

The latest Bleat reminded me of our last appliance delivery/nightmare. When I was in Canada earlier this year on a business trip, the washing machine broke. My wife had noticed that the clothes were coming out "really wet, and it was taking forever to dry them". It is a front-loader and the drum was not rotating at all, which would account for the wetness. We still cannot account for the clothes not being soapy or still dirty as well as wet. A quick check revealed that the belt was fine and it was the motor which was shot. Normally, I would at least price-out the cost of a new motor, but this machine had been throwing about a quart of water out the bottom per load for the last two years. Yes, I had tried to figure out where the water was coming from and had found that it was coming from the tank itself. I was somewhat shocked to find that the tank was plastic when the drum was expensive and shiny stainless steel. In any account, the leakage wasn't much of a problem since it just seeped through the laundry room floor and dripped into the unfinished basement floor, where it would eventually evaporate. So, the day I got back from Canada (I came in on a redeye and arrived at Logan around 7:00AM) I went to Sear's and purchased a fancy machine. It was a floor model, which saved some money and ensured quicker delivery. I payed to have them install the new machine and cart-off the old one. What they ended up doing was leaving the new machine in our living room and leaving the old machine right where it was. It seems that they could not turn off the water faucet valve which feeds cold water to the machines and so gave up and left it as is. As you might suppose, I was not at home when this 'delivery' took place. I guess high tech options like kinking the hose while making the transfer or just shutting off the house water were too high-tech to be viable options. It all worked out for the best and I will explain how, later--gotta go to work now. Later: It worked out for the best because the rubber feet of the machine were totally wrecked. I suspect they slid-around the floor model from time to time and wore off the rubber. Since I had the old machine still there, I took it's legs off and luckily they fit onto the new washer. I imagine it would have been a total hassle to have got Sears to replace the feet and it really was very little effort to make the swap. dbp

Some Birthday Party Videos

Somehow, I think that if we had sons instead of daughters; the kids at the party would have mumbled their way through a version of "Happy Birthday" and that would have been the full extent of the singing. dbp