Update

The Knox ballistics gel worked better than expected.  The 8oz box yielded a cylinder of gel about 8” tall with a 5” diameter. The gel stopped a BB and a .22 round but allowed higher velocity rounds to pass through it and split into 3 sections when struck by a 20 gauge slug. The gel was surprisingly dense and resilient to breaking. Even when thrown high into the air and subsequently falling to the ground the sections thrown did not break apart.

On other matters it turns out that brown corduroy pants that have outlasted their usability produce black smoke when given a Jedi’s burial over a camp fire.  I loved those pants. I was sad to see them go.  I take comfort in knowing that the carbon sequestered in their worn down wales will be absorbed by the wilderness that claimed their last usefulness and converted back into sugars, proteins and the other components that assemble to create a most beautiful wilderness.

AFM

Active Fire Management, or AFM, is an important part of intentional recreation.

Uncommon

Innovation is simply finding uncommon connections between things that already exist. This morning I heard one of these innovators describe his craft. The podcast was Star Talk with Neil deGrasse Tyson and the topic was video games. If you are familiar with the format of the podcast you know that Neil has typically assembled an interview with someone of note or interest and then he and his rotation of comic guest hosts listen to and discuss the topics around the interview. This episodes interview featured the creator of Sim City (and all the other Sim related games) Will Wright.

I was never a fan of the Sim games, mostly because I’ve never been able to make much investment (time or financial) in video gaming, but to hear Wright explain the game in terms of the human experience was very interesting. As it turns out there is more to Wright and the Sims series than just some dumb game.

The quote below is from the Will Wright Wikipedia page but he expressed many of the same thoughts throughout the interview.

The problem with our education system is we’ve taken this kind of narrow, reductionist, Aristotelian approach to what learning is. It’s not designed for experimenting with complex systems and navigating your way through them in an intuitive way, which is what games teach. It’s not really designed for failure, which is also something games teach. I mean, I think that failure is a better teacher than success. Trial and error, reverse-engineering stuff in your mind—all the ways that kids interact with games—that’s the kind of thinking schools should be teaching. And I would argue that as the world becomes more complex, and as outcomes become less about success or failure, games are better at preparing you. The education system is going to realize this sooner or later. It’s starting. Teachers are entering the system who grew up playing games. They’re going to want to engage with the kids using games.

Who knew such good ideas about teaching and learning could come from a video game designer. In closing I’ll end with another quote from Wright that is amusing but also bolsters the notion that innovation comes from the uncommon.

“I'm uncollecting. I buy collections on ebay, and I disperse them out to people again. I have to be like an entropic force to collectors, otherwise all of this stuff will get sorted.”

BTW Blog fans, tomorrow I’ll be writing on harvested birch bark with the once glowing embers of a recently snuffed campfire and along with that I’ll be away from the internet so posting may be problematic.  I’ll do what I can to put something up, plenty of pals with strong and smart cellular phones.

DIY Ballistics

I’ve got my annual clay pigeon hunt this  weekend. I’m sure I’ll fill my limit of orange disks, I always do, but there is always an elusive trophy to bag. This year I hope to have my shot at it by shooting at ballistics gel.

Real ballistics gel is really expensive but the internet tells me that a properly prepared envelope of Knox gelatin can serve as a suitable replacement. So I’ll try it. We’ll see how it goes.

The Rule of 2

In life it is essential to have rules. Rules to live by help us guide our decision making especially when the decisions aren’t easy. So I have a rule of 2. In the presence of ice cream sandwiches if I eat one, I eat two. If I eat three I don’t have to agonize whether or not to eat another. The rule of 2 says that if I eat one I eat 2. Having eaten 2 already the third is 1 more. The rule of 2 says I eat a fourth.

The rule of 2 is applicable for cookies, brownies, fun size candy, slices of pie, slices of pizza, orange slices, etc.  Life is chaos without rules. Establish, live, never deviate.

I’ve Been Searching

Since I was a young teenager I have been content with the decision I made.  It was really always easy for me because I knew what I wanted and I liked it. There was really no reason to view things any differently.

Then for the last few years my content devolved to melancholy with bouts of dissatisfaction. And so I’ve been searching. Tonight I think I may have turned a corner.

For the longest time my Blizzard was Oreo/Snickers/M&M but as I said that lost its luster. I’ve consistently tried something new with each visit with variable results but tonight’s Oreo Cheesquake struck a chord that hasn’t been plucked since my regular visits to the 2^nd floor DQ in the Baker building.

This all just goes to show that when you find yourself in dark times the best policy is to press on, keep chopping that wood and work your way down the Blizzard menu until something works.

Did You Know?

The pressure exerted on the inside of your finger tip provides that tip with extra sensitivity.

Nails grow at about 3mm per month.

Nails are a form of hair.