Yello, y'all

[DavidOdden]

This isn't a substantive post: I just thought I'd give a try at saying hi (hey Don, Betsy, Stephen). I'm thinking of a permanent change of address where the signal to noise ratio is higher.

Dave Odden

[stephen_speicher]

This isn't a substantive post: I just thought I'd give a try at saying hi (hey Don, Betsy, Stephen). I'm thinking of a permanent change of address where the signal to noise ratio is higher.

Hi Dave,

I've been here about a month and it has been fun. There are a lot of bright young minds here -- good questions and interesting perspectives -- which should certainly interest you. As to permanence ... I have stayed much longer than I originally intended, so I will probably be fading away soon.

All in all, very nice people.

[AshRyan]

As to permanence ... I have stayed much longer than I originally intended, so I will probably be fading away soon.

I will hate to see you go. Your posts have been helpful.

Dave -- Welcome to the board! Hope you decide to stick around.

[stephen_speicher]

I will hate to see you go.  Your posts have been helpful.

I'm glad for that. But, (almost) everything is finite, including the time I have ...

[AwakeAndFree]

I don't see a reason why this forum can't become a permanent part of life. Assuming we keep the level of discussion high, and keep the good people coming.

I'm writing a seminar paper on the Intellectuals Salons of 18th century France... most of these salons lasted for the lifetime of their host, with some people meeting every week for as long as 30 years.

Today we call the salon a "forum", but it's much the same.

[Bowzer]

Welcome, Dave!

I will hate to see you go.  Your posts have been helpful.

I very much second that.

Today we call the salon a "forum", but it's much the same.

That's a wonderful analogy! Now if I could only get this BBS to serve me a drink or two...

[stephen_speicher]

I'm writing a seminar paper on the Intellectuals Salons of 18th century France... most of these salons lasted for the lifetime of their host, with some people meeting every week for as long as 30 years.

That is a very interesting subject. A century earlier, France was indirectly responsible for establishing what was to become the greatest English "salon" as a scientific tradition, The Royal Society.

There is some controversy as to the roots of the Society, but there is no doubt that in mid-seventeenth century, around 1645, there was a small group of "virtuosi" who met to discuss natural phenomena and experimental science. It was Theodore Haak who started these meetings. Haak had been corresponding with the famous French mathematician Mersenne for several years, and Mersenne made Haak aware of the regular meetings which he organized in Paris for mathematicians and scientists. It was from these roots that The Royal Society was founded in 1662.

I also saw an interesting play recently which put Einstein together with Picasso in a 1904 Paris coffeehouse. These were the meeting grounds for artists and intellectuals of that time.

[stephen_speicher]

I very much second that.

Thanks.

That's a wonderful analogy! Now if I could only get this BBS to serve me a drink or two...

Think of it as a drinking from the fountain of knowledge ...

[AshRyan]

I also saw an interesting play recently which put Einstein together with Picasso in a 1904 Paris coffeehouse. These were the meeting grounds for artists and intellectuals of that time.

Ah...Steve Martin's Picasso at the Lapin Agile? Or is there some other play with a similar premise?

[stephen_speicher]

Ah...Steve Martin's Picasso at  the Lapin Agile?  Or is there some other play with a similar premise?

Yes, that was the one. I should mention that it was not a very good play. It had some nice moments, but all in all I was disappointed in Steve Martin, whose work I have at times enjoyed.

What intrigued me, and what motivated me to see the play in the first place, was the brilliance of putting Einstein and Picasso together at that time, and in that way. Picasso (by my judgment, for the worse) was to make a profound impact on modern art just three years later with a painting in 1907. Einstein, of course, changed scientific history with his introduction of special relativity in 1905.

It turns out that Picasso became really interested in non-Euclidean geometry via a friend of his who frequented the coffee house where Picasso held court. Unfortunately this connection was not really brought out in the play, but these two, Picasso and Einstein, each profoundly affected the course of history around the same time. Of course, Picasso was in Paris and Einstein was in Bern, Switzerland at that time, but nevertheless the idea of them meeting was a brilliant concept which had a lot of potential. Unfortunately, the potential failed in the play.

[AshRyan]

Yes, that was the one. I should mention that it was not a very good play. It had some nice moments, but all in all I was disappointed in Steve Martin, whose work I have at times enjoyed.

Yes, it's not my favorite of Steve Martin's works either (though it's the only one that I've had the opportunity to see performed live around here). Steve Martin is an interesting person. There is an obvious absurdist influence in most of his plays, but they are actually somewhat more intellectual (rather than pseudo-intellectual) than one might think, given that influence. Even his most stylistically absurdist pieces actually have a thematic point, relaying a message through an interesting story (unlike, say, Waiting For Godot). His plays are often poignant, and usually very funny, although the humor in Picasso was at times pretty silly (borderline stupid).

I think I recall reading a story about Steve Martin that said he was a Philosophy major in college before becoming a comic actor. That may account for some of the better and worse aspects of his writing.

(When I saw Picasso, the dirty old man--I think the character's name was Gaston--who was constantly thinking about sex was played by the guy who did the voice of Piglet in the Winnie the Pooh cartoons. That was, um, interesting.)

[stephen_speicher]

My biggest disappointment about Picasso at the Lapin Agile was that it wasted a brilliant concept -- bringing those two together. I was told by the director of the version I saw that Martin was quite aware of the history involved. I gave him a book title of a nice scholarly work which connects Einstein and Picasso so that he could pass it along to Martin, whom he was to be seeing soon.

I did have a very delightful experience at the play, though. I met Anthony Franciosa, an old-time actor whose early work I really enjoyed. We had a lovely conversation about things, and I filled him in on some history about Einstein that I thought might add to his enjoyment of the play. It turned out that the person he was with was a real physics aficionado and I was surprised to have a really interesting discussion about quantum mechanics and relativity.

By the way, have you seen Steve Martin in Mamet's The Spanish Prisoner? A straight acting job, done really well, in a terrific movie.

[AwakeAndFree]

You know, these introduction threads always reach the most unexpected subjects!

[AshRyan]

By the way, have you seen Steve Martin in Mamet's The Spanish Prisoner? A straight acting job, done really well, in a terrific movie.

No, I haven't, but I will check it out. Thanks for the tip!