Music Monday: Me Music

I know it's morbid, but I can't stop thinking about the music I would like to have played at my funeral. There are two parts to this.

Funeral/service: I need just a few songs that will work with an organ, acoustic guitar, or string quartet.

Vince Guaraldi: Linus and Lucy video (check out this Hey Ya Peanuts video just for kicks)

This is the easy one. I love jazz, cartoons, and Charlie Brown Christmas. If you asked any math student who had me first period what they remember about me, I have no doubt that they would remember me playing this tape before class for the entire month between Thanksgiving and Christmas. If this song can't put a smile on your face, then I'm sorry.

U2: Where the Streets Have No Name video (still working on this one. Could be replaced with a Beastie Boys song or some old school rap)

I want something completely recognizable here. This one isn't about a deep message as much as it is about a collective moment of recognition. In this day of iPods and DVRs, we have so few synchronous moments of experiencing music together.

The Specials: Enjoy Yourself video

This is the uplifting, message-laden send-off. Love the song and love the lyrics.

Repast/wake: Coming up with a playlist for the repast/wake is a longer-term challenge, but equally important. I want three hours worth of music. The first can be jazz/mood music that I love (Miles, Coletrane, Herbie, Bill Evans, The Adderleys, etc.), but the second and third hours need to be full of songs that make people who knew me smile. Must-have artists include Led Zep, English Beat, New Order, Talking Heads, Richard Cheese, The Beatles, The Beastie Boys, and too many others to name.

BTW: I want to be cremated and have my ashes spread at any location Boy Kid and Girl Kid want to visit.

MathEd: New Blog Idea: Real Math Applications

Here is an idea I have had for a few months, but am finally getting around to putting it out there.

How about a new blog that is all about how REAL math solves REAL problems. I am not talking about word problems. I am talking about people documenting ways that math helped them solve real problems. Note that this is not about finding applications for all the math in the course you are teaching or developing right now. This is about finding a way for people who use math to solve problems to share these problems and solutions.

Here is a statistics example from my office:

The Problem: A Project Manager at my company came to me asking how he could present data about variances from planned budgets in a way so that the big variances (both over and under) from budget wouldn't distort the data. When he used means to display the data, a few outliers over stated the degree to which early budgets varied from the final numbers.

The Solution: I first suggested that he look at a trimmed mean, but the solution that ultimately worked was using medians. Medians are less influenced by outliers than the mean, so using them got the job done.

The goal with a blog like I am proposing is to provide a rich repository of ideas for educators and learners to see how math is really used. Note that the problems don't have to come up in office settings. Some might come up at home or in sports or any other context, but in each case, math needs to be used to solve a real problem.

Any interest? Has it already been done? I think we need a set of contributors for this endeavor. I am fine being a contributor, but couldn't take the entire burden on myself.

Ramble: Seedless Watermelons Are Evil

OK, so maybe the title is a bit of hyperbole, but this is a moral issue. So-called "seedless" watermelons have taken over and I can't stand them.

First, just because a seed is white doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Saying that white seeds are OK but black seeds are not reminds me of the unfair sentencing guidelines for crack versus powdered cocaine. It's morally reprehensible. White seeds and brown seeds are all still seeds and should be dealt with properly. We can't give the white ones a pass while vilifying the brown ones. Calling watermelons with white seeds "seedless" is like calling a Wall Street investment bank "criminal free." Just because they snort coke instead of smoking crack or fleece high-brow investors instead of knocking over liquor stores doesn't make them guilt free.

Second, the idea that a seedless watermelon is even desirable is not something I can accept. I get that seedless oranges and grapes have their place, but they don't have seeds that are nearly as much fun as real watermelon seeds. Spitting watermelon seeds is a summer pastime that is now a thing of the past thanks to these genetic freaks with anemic white seeds that dribble out of your mouth. I want real seeds that I can send flying through the air.

In short: I like my watermelon seeds like Mrs. Kid likes her man: plump and brown. We all need to rise up and protest the de-brownification of our watermelons.

Ramble: Why I Do This

This blog is certainly a great exercise for myself, as well as a way of sharing with however few people read it. But another reason I write this blog is so that Boy Kid and Girl Kid can read it and have a feel for who I was in this time of my life. If I get hit by a bus tomorrow, how would they know who I was? Mrs. Kid could try to explain and other family members and friends could try as well, but I want a direct avenue and this blog is it.

Some people address this need by writing a memoir. I have no interest in delving into my past. As The Hours say in Ali in the Jungle:

... it's, not, where you're from, it's where you're at, ...

...it's, not, about the things you've done, it's what you're doing, now,

What are you doing, now?

Amen. This makes my blog very self-serving, but I'm OK with that.

Music Monday: Herbie Is More Than Rockit

There are some artists who have a body of work that is far better and deeper than the average person knows about. They end up making a splash with a song that is wildly popular, but far from representative of their work.

Like many of my age, my first exposure to Herbie was with his groundbreaking song RockIt. I don't mean to minimize the importance of RockIt (which won Grammies and spawned a generation of break dancers and music that used technology in new ways), but that was a brief phase in Herbie's amazing career.

The Miles Davis Years: So What

My main MO for finding great jazz musicians is to start with Miles Davis and work my way out. He played with amazing people who went on to have stellar careers. Herbie's work with Miles was a great beginning.

Post-Davis Bop (Maiden Voyage and Empyrean Isles): Cantaloupe Island

These two albums are musts for anyone who wants to dip their toe in the jazz river. The hook in Cantaloupe Island is tremendous.

Fusion: Chamelion part 1 and part 2

Headhunters is accessible, funky, and fun.

(relatively) Modern Work

Rockit (love the video)

With Wayne Shorter: Aung San Suu Kyi (part 1 and part 2)

Herbie has done a ton of work since the 80's, so I have lots of work to do catching up with him.

Race Bait: Slideshows From The Root

A friend from work sent me a link to one of these slideshows from The Root, but I like them all, so here you go....

Would a Black Person Get Away With This?

This is the one she sent.

Black Folks We'd Like To Remove From Black History

I remember seeing this some time ago, but I still like it.

The Blackest White Folks We Know

Nice list.

BTW: How do you like the prefix for this (and future race-oriented) post?

Ramble: Prefixes

I am going to start pre-fixing more of my posts. For instance, this one has the prefix "Ramble." I already use some other prefixes:

• Best-of-Craigslist
• Web-Stuff Friday
• Music Monday

To this list of prefixes, I will add prefixes to connote more topics such as:

• MathEd
• Geek
• Politics
• Race

I might try coming up with more interesting prefixes than these, but am making no promises. The point of the prefixes is to make it easier for folks to decide what they do and don't feel like reading. Most people have blogs that are more focused than this one, but I am going to keep on with my broad rambles. It's who I am, but adding prefixes should make it easier for folks to pre-judge their interest in the topic for each post.

For instance, Mrs. Kid already ignores all the Music Monday and Web-Stuff Friday posts. Now, she can easily avoid all the MathEd and Geek posts.