06.13.2008 -- Pop Quiz

What was created in the year 2000 to capture the essence of music at the fundamental level using over 400 attributes to describe songs and a complex mathmatical algorithm to organize them?

The Music Genome Project!

I remember hearing about this years ago. Of course, I completely lost track of it and only remembered my initial interest when my cousin's blog directed me to Pandora.com

This is the coolest concept I've thought about all month. I plan to try Pandora very soon.

Lucy, Zoey and I managed to leave the house before noon this morning to go on a hike. She actually let me pack her up a ways in her "packpack" before she wanted to walk. Normally, I am all for little people going on their own power, but it tends to slow down hikes considerably (read full stop). It was nice to actually get some exercise myself.

A Hiking Dog is a Happy Dog - Zoey Post Hike

We got to a point where the trail goes into a mass of oak trees that have been decimated by those little inchworm pests (that can drop from branches with no warning onto unsuspecting hikers) before I got too creeped out and decreed that we were turning around. This part of the trail was not the first sign of damage by the worms--just the first part where the damage appeared to be total.Besides being depressing, the sight of all of the defoliated trees made me think of all of those worms dropping into my hair, down the back of my shirt... It was just time to turn around.

On the way down, we came across a couple of forest workers doing trail maintenance. I asked one of them if they (the forest service) had plans to do anything about the infestation. He explained that a lot of people are spraying for the worms in the valley, but that the worms are part of a natural cycle that will run it's course. He said that a few years ago they did spray to get rid of an asian Gypsy Moth because it wasn't endemic (my words, not his), and that killing everything off (bees too) along with the Gypsy Moth pretty much caused this imbalance.

It's a simple thing, but I'm relieved and grateful that the people managing our forests are taking the longer view.

I went through a Barbara Kingsolver phase a while back and read everything she'd written. Everything that I got my hands on, that is: about 6 of her books. She has a long view and is (in my opinion) a darn good writer.


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Post Script: Have now listened about 20 seconds of Pandora (My own provate Mushaboom Radio), and love it.