Birthdays, Bars, GABF, DAM, Quantum Dynamics, and BEER

k. First off, happy birthdays to: Wolvie, Didi, and Jenny. Miss you guys and hope you have awecore birthdays. Also, happy birthday to Kevin, a coworker of my roomate.

So, this week was rather interesting.

Over the weekend I made my second batch of meatloaf and mashed potatoes. And it worked tremendously well without the fire alarm going off this time. :D It was delicious. I finished it off with my bottle of Westmalle, which made it even better:


On Tuesday I helped proctor and grade the physics I test. I actually thought it was a blast, because we were in a huge lecture hall and my job was to go around giving vague answers to specific questions. In other words, what I do best. :D After that we graded them, which was cool because we all hung around in the conference room until about 9:30 grading and chatting. The average was a 70%, which is almost a perfect test.

But then..........the bad part came. The next day we had to deal with an abundance of student wrath regarding their grades. :( Fortuntely for me, I'm not able to make any "final" decisions on raising grades, so all I can do is listen to concerns and relay them to the course coordinators. But that doesn't get rid of the problem of dealing with angry/sad/tearful students. I'll get used to it.

But, I did have some students ask me to create new office hours, which is good.

ANYWAY, onto semi-fun stuff:

Throughout the week we were working on the math physics homework, which I had finished about half of. Then some major problems came up, and we went to talk to the professor on Wednesday. He said that he'd messed up the lectures, and so he'd delay the homework due date until this Tuesday. cool. Because of this I got 2 free beers (to be discussed later).

Colloquium on Wednesday was about superconductivity in ferromagnetic materials. Researchers at LBNL are trying to raise the superconductivity temperature of materials. I understood nothing from this talk, but it was interesting nonetheless.

Last night Amanda I, Amanda II, Yuxin, Sam, David, Dave, Me, and a few others went to Brown's Brewing to drink beer and eat. It was a resounding success, with the following details:

+ We got there late, and so the only seating was outside, and it was FUCKING COLD.
+ I got 2 free oatmeal stouts, which warmed me up quite a bit
+ Amanda II succeeded in organizing all the international students so they could successfully order from the menu \o/
+ Everybody got a beer that they liked
+ We then moved INSIDE to play pool, darts, and foosball.
+ After all that, Amanda II stayed with Dave to wait for some of her friends, David and I walked Yuxin home. David and I then got his roomate and went to drink more beer. Overall a good night :)

So, on this, the final day of the Great American Beer Festival, the first of which I have been unable to attend, I present my homage to it:


This is a good example of the DIPA style, and I rated it at 4.4/5.0 on BA. I'm glad that some of you were able to go. :)

In other news, the expansion to the Denver Art Museum is FINALLY open after 6 years of construction. Erin went to see it and provided a good review, and I intend to see it in its entirety when I return for winter break.

To change topics, I've been doing some work with quantum dynamics of a particle in an infinite well and harmonic oscillator well. While there's nothing new here, its been interesting to examine. I won't go into the details unless people request it, I'll just post this pretty picture that I got:


And to finish off, I also tried Kirin Light:


This stuff is boring. Its not bad, just boring. I unfortunately had to give it the lowest score I've ever given on BA, 1.3/5.0. This may not be fair, because St. Pauli Girl NA got a 1.8, and that was truly a crappy beer. I may re-review it, but that won't change the score much. I'll just stick with normal Kirin Ichiban in the future.

peace out!

Mundane NY updates

First off, massive props go out to Dimitri, Ann, and Dr. Carr for their soon to be published paper in Phys. Rev. Letters. (http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0609119) Awesome work guys! :D

Now, as promised, mundane NY updates!

k. This last week has been hella busy. It was the last week before the physics I test (that I have to proctor), so I had tons of students in my office seeking help. I think I helped them ok....

The test is on Tuesday, after which we have to grade them. XD

Most of my classes have been going well. The homework so far hasn't been that difficult, but there is one thing I want to mention. There is a DRASTIC difference in the mood between undergrad and grad school. In undergrad, we had things piling up on us over and over and over and we were constantly doing things and pushing them off the desk to get to the next task. Grad school (so far) isn't like that. Its very studious. You get a problem, and you go look up what people have to say about it. If you don't find anything, you continue searching. Teachers encourage this, they give you paper references and book page numbers and tell you to go look it up.

Now, I've been a professional student for a long time, but this is awesome. The main reason I like this is they FINALLY say to go look at what others have done. You don't have to reinvent the wheel every time you do a problem. You can see how others have done it. BUT, this takes alot more patience, and you have to UNDERSTAND and work through what others have done. But it finally is allowing me to branch out and look at previous work. I've been to the library 6 times so far this week looking up papers. That is probably more times than I was ever at the Mines library.

The Folsom Library at RPI is astonishingly good. When you walk into the first floor its empty, with lots of comfy chairs and blue lights, Its really cool, but you say "where are the books?" The 1st, 3rd, and 4th floors hold the book stacks, and they are HUGE. I was able to find almost everything I was looking for in the library. In addition, they have alot of electronic resources. About half of their collection is electronic.

Over the next week I need to develop my plan of study, which means meeting with my advisor and talking about classes and research. I plan to use this as an opportunity to discover specifics about their research interests.

So throughout the week of helping students and searching the library, I didn't have any time to drink beer. :( But alas, yesterday I picked up some of this:


It was pretty good, kind of high on the alcohol (7%) for me, but I gave it a 3.8 on BA.

A week ago I also tried this, a Euro Pale Lager. 3.45 on BA.


Yesterday morning, the plan was for Amanda, Yuxin, Jiuru, Sam, and Me to go apple picking at an orchard in Altamont (about 45 minutes away). As it turns out, Yuxin, Jiuru, and Sam didn't want to go because it was damp from the rain we had gotten on Friday night :/ So, Amanda and I went, and it was AWESOME. I may have picked apples from an orchard in my life before, but I've never done it in NY in September in the fog and drizzling rain. It was really fun. And as you can see, I'm an awesome apple picker:



After that we went to the Altamont farmers market, which was kickass. I got most of the produce I was planning to buy at Hannaford for about $18 which is dirt cheap. $1 for a dozen organic, farm fresh eggs! SWEET Plus we got half gallong jugs of apple cider and fresh churned butter. It was alot of fun, and I'll actually have food to eat this week. :D

Yesterday evening I broke out the keg and brewed my first batch of beer here, my "Grad School Stout." Its an oatmeal stout with the following recipe:

1.2 lbs Hopped Dark Malt Extract
1.2 lbs Unhopped Brown Malt Extract
1/2 oz Northern Brewer hop pellets
2 cups Oats
3 gallons water


I've concluded that I need a very substantial and heavy beer to get me through the cold New England winters here. I think this stuff will do the trick. I'll let it ferment for 2 weeks (twice as long as normal), and then let it carbonate and condition for 3 weeks, and by that time it'll be freaking COLD here, so it should be nice.

Today I've done nothing. That'll probably change. I want to make my acorn squash bread today, and I have to do some grading.

Next week, something special will be announced. Stay tuned! PEace oUt foos!

She deserves it

So today was the best news I've heard in a long time

...... Ashy got her kidney transplant.

!!!!!!!:D:D:D:D:D:D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ashy is one of the coolest people I've ever known. I love her to death, she's so sweet. And has had to put up with too much misfortune for one person to have. She has proven herself to be the strongest person I've ever known, waiting patiently for her turn.

She deserved a second chance. And now she has it.

It couldn't happen at a better time, and to a better person.

We all love you Ashy :) God speed my friend.

........more mundane updates on NY life coming soon (probably tomorrow)..........

CHANGE PLACES

So the game is closed, in record time. Josh calculated 51 kg, and wins the "prize most splendid." He realized the crucial fact that the direction of the boat's displacement makes a big difference in the mass that you find.

When I decide what the prize is.....he shall receive it. :D

How many physicists does it take to move a boat?

k. This is a physics 1 question that was on the students' homework that we had to help them with.

The Problem: "Two People (with Person A being less massive than Person B) are standing in a boat that is next to a pole. Person A has a mass of 74 kg, the boat is 3.2 meters long, and has a mass of 34 kg. Persons A and B change places in the boat, and after this process, the boat has moved 46.3 cm from the pole. What is the mass of Person B?"

It took 1,2,3,4,5, count them, FIVE physics grad students working on this problem for 3 hours, while the physics 1 students stared aimlessly. And we didn't solve it.

It wasn't until I got to my apartment and wrote stuff out on the markerboard (and trust me, I had chalkboards available all day) that I figured it out.

So, this is the latest cross country game. I'll leave it open until somebody solves it. And whoever does shall get a prize most splendid.

Nightmares

So I had my first real nightmare in probably......8 years..last night. Being chased by an angry mob of zombie motorcycle punks scared the shit out of me.

I wake up to discover that my felt RPI banner has partially fallen off the wall and is covering my dreamcatcher.

hmm.

The Answer, The Best Beer I've Ever Had, Crossgates Mall, Grading, HW, and Awesome Lectures

k. First, the answer to the previous CROSS-COUNTRY GAME

$7.29

So Tim wins. \o/

Over the weekend I took the bus down to Crossgates Mall (which is about an hours bus ride from here) with two intentions:

* Find a chalice to drink Rochefort
* I had heard that some people from the dept were going there and wanted to find them.

I FAILED on both accounts. But Crossgates is HUGE, and they have alot of the common mall-ish stores (Best Buy, William's Sonoma, JC Penney, Macy's, etc.). There was one store, called "Rocky Mountain Collection" which I found amusing. :p


I finally got up the nerve to try the Steel Reserve 211 High Gravity that's been taking up space in my fridge. Its an 8.1% malt liquor, and was absolutely disgusting. It tasted like paint thinner and burned all the way down. It gets a 2.60/5.00 on BeerAdvocate. This is a moderately high rating for how bad it was, I rated it within the style of American Malt Liquor, and it met most of the requirements, its just it tasted bad overall. If you're trying to get drunk fast and don't care about how bad it feels, then that stuff is for you.


A day later, when the horrible aftertaste had left my mouth I sampled Rochefort 10, in my brand new RPI wine glass that I bought at the bookstore. It is the ABSOLUTE BEST BEER I'VE EVER HAD. I ranked it 4.85/5.00 on BeerAdvocate, which shattered Chimay Blue's 4.50/5.00. Now, if you'll notice, Rochefort is 11.3% ABV, compared to Steel Reserve's 8.1%. The difference? Trappist brews have enough malt and know how to counteract the flavor of alcohol, so that it doesn't taste like you're drinking paint thinner. :) I've copied my review at the end of this post, or you can look it up on BA (I'm MrB2006).

Most of the weekend after that consisted of grading. wheeeeeeeeeeeee

Only recently have I started doing actual homework. I finished the two quantum problems (straightforward Lagrangian mechanics), and I've been working on the math physics, which has turned out to be a greater challenge than I anticipated.

Today I got the opportunity to attend the 11th Annual Resnick Lecture presented by Dr. Mario Livio (distinguished astrophysicist, and author of The Golden Ratio and The Equation that Couldn't Be Solved). His topic was symmetry in nature, which proved to be a very interesting subject (I've looked at it extensively but it was astounding to see someone of his high integrity present on it). The lecture was amazing, he's such a good public speaker.

That's about it. No game this time, I have to arrange for receipt of promised prizes of the last two games. But there will be another one soon. \o/

peace out!

Review of Rochefort 10 (Ranked #5 in the world) from BeerAdvocate:

"My first review of a quadrupel.

Presentation - an 11.2 oz brown bottle with a 160310 freshness stamp. Poured into an oversized wine glass.

A - Pours a medium to dark cloudy brown with light brown hints near the edges. A 1/2" light brown sudsy head that reduces to a small ring and a partial sheet of small bubbles on the surface.

S - Sweet and fruity. Most notably are blueberries, caramel, pear, dark roasted sugar, and molasses. Some alcohol but not overwhelming at all.

T - Roasted sugar, sweet pear and apple, smoky wood, some grapefruit, a spicy pepperness, and a tiny amount of pine. A truly exceptional flavor. Truly a sipping beer, because the flavor is so rich.

M - This brew packs a punch. The alcohol content is very high, and yet it provides a smooth warming of the mouth and tongue. I know its there, but its concealed very well by the sweet fruit and roasted sugar flavors. An impressive feeling that I won't forget quickly.

D - A sipping beer, but oh so luxurious. One bottle can last a whole session, as I find new flavors and new complexities. This brew never gets old and continues to surprise.

Absolutely astonishing. An excellent blend of flavors and complexities. This brew provides an enigma that demands to be solved, so many flavors are present and in such a unique arrangement that every sip offers something different. Rochefort has truly done it with this one.

With my first review of a quadrupel, I am now a fan."

The Answer, Beer, Another Game, Helping hands, and Qualifying Exams

So, what everybody's been waiting for: the answer.

$103.50

This made me very sad. :( So it seems that Josh and Erin's bet of $108.40 is the closest. But Pest wins the award for the funniest response: 50 Cent!

So upon receipt of contact info from these three people (DON'T POST IT IN HERE), you three shall receive authentic pieces of RPI merchandise.

So, onto more important topics: BEER!

I scoped out the "Discount Beverage" store a bit more, and found Trappist Rochefort 10:


While this isn't a rare find, its uncommon, and I haven't tried it yet. I'm letting it cellar for a while (until I get proper glassware to drink it), and then I'll get another one and cellar it for a long time.

I also got this, a pretty good All-Malt Lager:


So, time for another CROSS COUNTRY GAME. This time: guess the price of the bottle of Trappist Rochefort. (Not so easy to look up on Amazon :D)

So we had the physics department BBQ on Thursday, which was alot of fun. Unfortunately, I sat down at the table with all the new asian students, so they were all speaking Chinese (dammit Cecil, where are you when I need you?), and I didn't understand a word they were saying.

Some of them had to survey a friend for their immigration class, and so I got surveyed about 2 or 3 times during the picnic. It was pretty cool overall, it was about your high school education (I feel old when I have trouble remembering that far back :p).

Then I went to go TA. There I had to solve a problem from the book that I'd never seen before in 7 seconds or less and then explain it to the class. WHEEEEEEEEE

After that was done, I was leaving when Amanda caught me in the hallway. She said that one of the asian girls (who is an absolute sweetheart) didn't get her survey done, and she was desperately searching for somebody to survey. So I called her, and saved the day by AVERTING ANOTHER CRISIS! :D A good way to make friends.

Today I got word at 8am that the results of the qualifying exams would be released at 5pm. So I waited around all day to discover the results. If at first you don't succeed: YOU FAIL. Yeah, I didn't pass. But I was told that for a first time around with no studying my results were good.

There are two tests: Mechanics & Electromagnetics and Quantum Mechanics & Statistical Mechanics. You are given 10 problems on each test, hand in 8, and are graded on 6. On the first test, you need to get 3 right in each category: I got 2 right in each. And on the second test you need 4 and 2, and I got 3 and 0.

Not horrible results, this just means I need to study my ass off for the next time I take it. I get two more chances, in Jan and Aug. That should be the last test I ever take in my life. HarHar.

So yeah, that's it. Congrats to those who won the last game, and we'll see how this one goes.

Comparing Books to Beer

K. TIME FOR A CROSS COUNTRY GAME:

Guess the price of the book:


Whoever comes closest will receive a piece of RPI merchandise.

DO THE GUESSING!

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Requested pictures, and AWESOME BEER

k. First, up by popular demand, a picture of the outside of my apt:



On Friday, I went to math physics and learned about the continuity of complex functions. \o/ At noon I went to TA, which went pretty well. We got to shoot the target with the gun that shoots plastic balls again. :D

Also up by popular demand, pictures of my "office":





We managed to get out on the roof, and I took these pictures from there:





On Friday night I was bored, and couldn't find anybody from scko0l to do stuff with, so I got on the bus to go down to Albany in search of another brewpub. Google maps said it should be at Pearl & Columbia streets. I walked around pretty much the WHOLE DAMN CITY and never found it. A couple of interesting things happened tho:

+ There was a couple who were trying to pull into a parking space that I noticed was covered in broken glass. I pointed this out to them, and they were really grateful. But they had already driven over the glass, so I don't know if their tires had holes or not. Oops.

+ I was walking around the "Pepsi Arena," which is the Albany concert and sports area. Apparently there was a Ja Rule concert or something because there were tons of people there, mostly femalez, dressed in their absolute best and really really giddy. Too bad I didn't have a ticket. :p

+ After leaving the Pepsi Arena, a guy stopped me to read my shirt "Rays cast from this shirt travel at over 670,000,000 MPH." After he read it, he roped me in and started talking about how the war on terror is shitty (agreed), how disease is caused by additives to our food and water (semi-agree) and to fix it all we need to start an armed rebellion against society (don't agree). It was the first time that when I started walking away, the person who I'm walking away from just keeps on talking, his voice getting louder and louder as I'm walking away until finally he gives up. Creepy. I stayed away from that side of town the rest of the night. Not having found the brewpub, I returned home.

Saturday morning I was lazy. I got up at about 10am and did absolutely nothing until about noon. I did some grading, then I went shopping at Hannaford. Google told me that there should be a "Discount beverage" store a block away from Hannaford, so I went to check it out, and when I did, I found this:


I am super happy that somebody on this side of the country carries this, because its one of my favoritest beers ever. :D I also found a small bottle of Chimay Wit, which I am cellaring for a while.

At Hannaford I got some ground beef, eggs, some air fresheners, and THIS:


Allllllll riiiiiiiight! Its officially Halloween season. This stuff is pretty good, although I've had better pumpkin ales. I'm sure I'll be reviewing more as we get closer to Halloween.

Later that night, Martin, one of his coworkers, and I went bowling up at the RPI student union. It was pretty cool. They have a grand total of FOUR lanes, and they're about the quality of the lanes at Golden Bowl. I couldn't pull any of my normal tricks, so I substantially sucked it up. But at the bowling alley in Troy, Monday nights are dollar nights. :d

Today I woke up and goofed off until about noon, when I did my laundry and graded papers. XD
Today has been relatively uneventful. I've watched a couple of DVDs, and made my world famous spaghetti sauce (with my brand new bottle of Sangria) :D. Overall a pretty relaxing weekend, and I still have one day to go.


I think that's about it. Peace out foos!