Monday, September 27, 2010

Tony Hey to Speak on Campus

One of the great opportunities you get when studying or working at a university is to be able to hear great speakers. Next Tuesday, Oct 5th, is one of those opportunities.

Tony Hey, vice president of the External Research Division of Microsoft Research, will be speaking from 12:30 to 1:45 in the Carwien Auditorium. He is responsible for worldwide external research (ER) collaboration in Microsoft Research. He leads the company's efforts to build long-term public-private partnerships with global scientific and engineering communities, spanning broad reach and in-depth engagements with academic and research institutions, related government agencies, and industry partners.

Dr. Ankur Teredasai, one of the faculty from the Institute of Technology had a chance to hear him speak earlier this year as sent this to me as a recommendation to ask him to campus:

"Tony is very eloquent and passionate about the way computing can transform scientific and engineering research and it's a pleasure to get an opportunity to listen to him discuss these issues. He is internationally recognized for his many contributions to the discipline of computing; in particular his work on development of the MPI standard for parallel computing. His move to the Pacific Northwest adds tremendous value to the computing and technology community."


I am looking forward to the conversation.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Do The Puyallup (the lyrics)



That time of the year again. I will be going to the Puyallup Fair with the family and riding rides (and getting ill), watching shows, checking out the booths for Sham-Wow or a Magic Bullet demonstrations, eating ears of corn and scones and generally having a good time.

So it is also time once more to review the lyrics to the "Do The Puyallup" song of yesteryear.

"Do the Puyallup"
musics and lyrics by Saxon Rawlings, (slogan by Denny Hinton)

Oh you can do it at a trot,
You can do it at a gallop,
You can do it real slow so your heart won't palpitate.
Just don't be late.

Do the Puyallup.


All the people and the animals down at the fair,
They do the Puyallup like they didn’t have a care
And it looks like so much fun to do
I think I’m gonna learn how to do it too.


I saw a duck and a chicken down by the farm,
A kickn' up the hay and a raisn' such a storm,
That I asked the farmer what they were up to
and he said "Puyallup, That's what they do."

You can do it at a trot,
You can do it at a gallop,
You can do it real slow so your heart won't palpitate.
Just don't be late.

Do the Puyallup.


Asked the farmer if he’d show me how to do it
And he said "why son their ain’t nothin to it.
Just move to the music and jump in the air
Like everyone else who comes to the fair"

You can do it at a trot,
You can do it at a gallop,
You can do it real slow so your heart won't palpitate.
Just don't be late.

Do the Puyallup


You can do it in the rain or the sun or the fog
It comes real easy like rolling off a log
Get a partner from Tacoma or Seattle or Fife
Even let you do it with your husband or wife.


It’s a natural thing there isn’t any doubt
Folks do it while they’re sittin’ or walkin’ about
While over on the midway on the merry go round
Kids are doin it in circles going up and down.


Now it don’t matter if it’s rain or shine
When you do the Puyallup you have a good time
So guys grab get gals and gals grab a fellow
If you’re worried ’bout the rain just bring an umbrella.


You can do it with a mouth full of cotton candy
Caramel apples, salt water taffy
Hot dogs, hamburgers, man oh man
Hot buttered scones with strawberry jam


I do the Puyallup cause it feels real neat
Put a smile on my face and a tickle in my feet
Ain’t no way not to do it right
You can do it all day and into the night


you can do it at a trot,
You can do it at a gallop,
You can do it real slow so your heart won't palpitate.
Just don't be late.

Do the Puyallup

Do the Puyallup

Do the Puyallup

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Tacoma Science Café at the Famous Harmon Brewery

As I was looking through my email this article came through on the Pacific Science Center newsletter. I though I would pass it on. Note that these meetings will take place at the "famous" Harmon Brewery in downtown Tacoma. When I was enjoying my hummus plate there yesterday I didn't know I was sitting amongst the famous. Neat.

I look forward to joining those meetings when I am able. I certainly know a couple of professors who are likely to be there.


Tacoma Science Café
Science Cafe
Pacific Science Center is pleased to announce our third Science Café, which will be located in Tacoma, Washington.

A partnership with KCTS9 Public Television, the Tacoma Science Café will take place the first Thursday of each month at the famous Harmon Brewery in downtown Tacoma. The pub known as "Tacoma's Downtown Gathering Place" will welcome local scientists and community to discuss current science topics from climate impacts in the Northwest to the science of chocolate.

"We are grateful to the Institute of Museum and Library Services for their generous grant that allows us to expand our Science Café program to the South Sound," said Meena Selvakumar, Acting Vice President for Strategic Programs at Pacific Science Center.

Science Cafés bring scientists face-to-face with the general public in the comfortable, lively atmosphere of a neighborhood café or pub. All Science Cafés are free to the public, open to all ages and no science background is required!

"People attend our science cafés for a variety of reasons," said Wendy Hansen, Ph.D., SCOPE Project Manager for Pacific Science Center. "But most are there to learn something new about current research and to ask questions of the speaker. The appeal of the cafés is that people get to learn about cutting edge research in a fun environment."

The new café will launch Thursday, November 4, at 7 p.m. at the Harmon Brewery in downtown Tacoma. Each Science Café begins with a local scientist presenting a backbone of science related to the night's topic, followed by a short break for table discussion and beverage refills. The highlight of the night is an extended question and answer session with the scientist.

Previous cafés have covered climate science, evolution and religion, robotics, and health care, just to name a few.

The Harmon Brewery is located at 1938 Pacific Avenue, Tacoma WA, 98402

Second Book of Short Stories Out on Amazon

During the last year I wrote four short read collections called the Three Twisted Tales . Today they are available in aggregate as The Clock...