Fondue or die!

Okay, the organization of the fondue dinner has passed email capability. I'm making a post here to get it all out there. Discuss in comments.

What
Fondue dinner and dessert. Currently we don't have fixed recipe, but the requirements are minimal: gruyere, emmenthaler, dry white wine, garlic, kirsch, and cornstarch for the dip. Suggested victims are: cubes of a nice, slightly stale, bread, lightly seared strips of lamb, pork, and various vegetables (carrots, broccoli, asparagus).

We have access to Demetri's fondue pot. We will need at least one, probably two more (one for a meat-free version, and one for dessert). Mostly, any heavy-walled sauce pan ought to do. We'll need several tea-lights or votive candles and something with which to raise the pots over them (here we could use the grates from Max's stove and some trivets).

If anyone (besides us) has a Lazy Susan, it would be great if we could borrow it, to grant easy access to the dipping-foods.

Dessert seems likely to be chocolate fondue. I don't know a recipe for this, but I'll bet it will involve a bunch of dark chocolate, some small amount of toasted nuts (filberts, maybe?), a bit of milk or cream and a bit of red wine. For dipping we have suggestions: strawberries, tiny oranges.

Where
Max's apartment.

Why
Duh. Cheese.

When
Saturday night, current proposals are 6:30pm, and 7:00pm.

Who
Currently we have Max, Demetri, John, Susan, Tom, Alice, ML, Dan, and Auna M.

Supplies
We can get the "fondue" ingredients. Others want to sign up for the dipping-foods, tea-lights, and anything else we've neglected?

I Can Haz Cheezburger?

Can I?

Even Steven Gets a Pony

Well, career week has come to a close. I had a couple of on-campus screening interviews. One went very well. Unless I completely misjudged the second one, it did not go so very well. That's okay, though: I got a USB key and a golf-towel out of it. No, I didn't mug the interviewer.

The upshot is that a directorate within the Office of the Secretary of Defense is very likely to bring me to D.C. to interview for a position as a staff analyst. Very interesting work, seems pretty important.

David Brooks

The lesson of the Ecology Narrative is that, in most cases, the market corrects itself. Maybe this year banks will change their pay structure so there’s not so much emphasis on short-term results. Maybe companies will change their boards to improve scrutiny over complex new instruments.

Pfffffff. Sure, you bet! Path dependence is a myth, and the principal-agent problem doesn't exist!

The Perfect Reality Show

Wow. Oh. My. Jeez. They're showing new episodes of Chuck, again. As a special treat, they decided to show two episodes tonight. Between, they sandwiched an episode of The Celebrity Apprentice. But this post is not about that! Susan changed the channel so we wouldn't have to see that, and stumbled upon... Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew! Interestingly, it is set at his clinic in Pasadena, and (occasionally) at Huntington Memorial Hospital, also in Pasadena. Such luminaries as Daniel Baldwin, Mary Carey, Brigitte Nielsen grace the halls, messy and bizarre.

Man, you really like Tide

At lunch today the topic somehow got turned to historical mathematicians. I think we were talking about Cantor, and how he went crazy. That was a shame. Euler, interestingly, continued to do stuff after he went blind. And he had, like, twelve kids.

We also talked about how several scientists (like artists) had patrons who supported them. We imagined what it would be like if scientists, mathematicians, and philosophers, were sponsored in the modern sense: Isaac Newton's universal gravitation, brought to you by Fidelity! Occam's Razor, brought to you by Gillette!

Better Lucky than Good

Last Friday an old classmate of my advisor came calling at Caltech to do some recruiting. I (all unawares because I thought he'd be around this week for the career fair) met with him and talked for an hour or so about what I've worked on, and what he works on. In the end, he said he'd filled the position in his group but that he was recruiting for several groups at his company and that I ought to send him my curriculum vitae.

After a couple of hours polishing it up a bit (with the help of Susan and Max), I sent it along.

Apparently I made a good impression, because they'll be inviting me for an interview. It may be too soon, as a practical matter, but it is exciting.

Accidents

Ever been rear-ended at the grocery store?

What about by a crazy lady with a cart?

When you were standing in the checkout line?

Gentlemen and ladies, I implore you! Do not run into people's butts with your fully-loaded grocery cart. Those things sting.

What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?

I often get the question: What do you want to do with your degree?

The honest answer is that I don't much care. I can get interested in just about anything.

One possible response I've come up with is that I'd like to find a wealthy benefactor and then just relay interesting information to them. Any wealthy readers in need of a bard, minus the singing?