Happy St. Paddy's Day

I love St. Pat's Day mostly because I love Irish music. I play the bodhran (the Irish frame drum) and used to play with an Irish band called Cara until it disbanded. Anyway, my family always has an Irish dinner. So tonight we'll have an Irish cheddar and stout fondue followed by corned beef and cabbage, potatoes, and soda bread. Then we'll finish with key lime and grasshopper pies for desert (they're green). And we'll listen to Irish music. In honor of today here is a video of the band Evergreen. Actually it's the bodhran player, Abe Doron, playing a solo and then being joined by Gal Shahar for a bodhran duet and then the band finishes with a quick reel. Enjoy and Happy St. Paddy's Day:

Happy Pi Day!

Today is Pi Day (March 14, 3/14). Now, true geeks were celebrating at 1:59 this morning. But us less than true geeks can celebrate anytime today. My family and I will have a Pi Day dinner this evening. And, of course, we'll have pie for dinner (probably a deep dish chicken pie) and pie for dessert. Also, while you're celebrating don't forget to raise a glass and wish Albert Einstein happy birthday. I've always thought that is was a fitting coincidence that Albert was born on Pi Day. How cool is that? Oh, and just for fun, here is Pi calculated to 1 million digits. And here is a site where you can search for your birthday (or any other date for that matter) within the digits of Pi.

Happy Darwin Day!

...Thus, from the war of nature, from famine and death, the most exalted object which we are capable of conceiving, namely, the production of the higher animals, directly follows. There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved. --Charles Darwin: "The Origin of Species"

So reads the last few lines of Darwin's magnum opus. Happy 200th birthday Charles and thank you for changing our understanding of the world. My family and I will be having a private celebration dinner this evening which will include monkey bread for desert (of course). Also, in celebration of the day, Digital Cuttlefish has composed a great song in his honor.

Happy Yule

Merry Christmas, Happy Festivus, Happy Winter Solstice, etc...