Music Monday: Andrew Osenga "Swing Wide the Glimmering Gates"

Andrew Osenga is maybe not a widely know artist, but he is one of the best out there. Aside from spending a lot of time with some other Andy's and having a good sense of humor, he's a fine lyricist and compelling musician. Andy is probably best know for his work with Caedmon's Call and, before that, The Normals.

Here is my favorite song from Andy O - "Swing Wide the Glimmering Gates" from his EP Letters to the Editor, Vol. 1.

I love the passion in the sentiment of this song

Swing wide the glimmering gates
Leave your pride and pain
Swing wide the glimmering gates
And be innocent again

Oh, to be innocent again; that's a place where I live and breath, forgetting the past and looking towards what is ahead.

By the way, if you like Andy's music, and this song in particular, you can get it for free. Go to his Free Page and you can download Letters to the Editor, Vol. 1 and several other songs for free - more than worth your time. Also, he has a follow-up EP, Letters to the Editor, Vol. 2, that you can download for free here. Don't miss out on some good stuff from a quality artist - take it from me, and go get it from Andy.

Tags: Andy Osenga, Swing Wide the Glimmering Gates, Free Music, Innocence

Because Shaun asked . . .

I commented on Shaun's blog today, mentioning that I am reading rheology journals. Shaun responded:

rheology: the study of the deformation and flow of matter under the influence of an applied stress

What on EARTH do you do for a living?

Well, Shaun, since you asked - I’m a rheologist, of course!

I work for an oilfield services company, in research, developing and studying drilling fluids. I could give you a couple of references to papers I authored, but that would ruin my anonymity and you would probably lose interest in them before you finished the title. I did post an excerpt from a paper on my blog some time ago, pretty much just to scare people.

For me, I try to make fluids that you can pump down a hole that can be five or six miles long, have it viscous (thick) enough to remove the drilled up dirt from the hole but not so thick that it’s like pushing bread dough through a straw. Plus about a hundred other considerations. Oh, bonus! The common vernacular for drilling fluids is to call them "muds" (since they consist mostly of dirt and water). So I get to tell people I play with mud all day long - every little boys dream!

As for rheology in general, it has great application in everyday life. For example, take peanut butter. You want the processed peanut butter thick enough so that it doesn’t separate into that oil layer on top like organic peanut butters (most people like it this way). If it is too thick, though, you can’t spread it on bread without tearing the bread. There is a nice, non-scary article here that gives a basic explanation. The premise of rheology is that everything flows, everything is deformable, given a long enough timescale and the proper environment.

Rheology trivia:

1. The longest running laboratory experiment (as recognized by Guinness) is a rheology experiment. (Unsurprisingly, I’ve blogged this, as well.) In it, pitch (you know, the stuff Noah used to seal the ark) at room temperature – which will shatter like glass if hit with a hammer – has been left in funnel to drip for the last 78 years. In that time, it has produced eight drops. It has won both an Ig-Nobel Prize and Dull Website of the Year from the Dull Men’s Club.
2. Glass panes in very old churches in Europe are a prime example of everything flows. The glass is noticeably thicker at the bottom of the pane than at the top. Even though the glass seems "solid" it is really flowing over a very long time.
3. There is a rheological parameter named the Deborah Number, after Deborah in the book of Judges. In her song praising God in Judges 5:5, she sings "The mountains flowed before the Lord." She is thus commonly recognized as the first rheologist noting that, given God’s long-term objective, everything does indeed flow.

So, too much information? You can read some more that I’ve talked about rheology on my blog, if you’re interested. I wouldn’t be surprised if that link never gets followed, though.

Finally, a definitive answer to Kat's favorite question

Here you go, Kat. 21.

21

HT: Erin

7 Things You Didn’t Know About Me

I was tagged a few days ago by Texas in Africa to do this. I've been slow because I've done this several times already, and I have a policy of full disclosure here on my blog (some may call it too much information). So, I would hope you already know me like the son your aunt's coworker's neighbor never had. If not, I give you this:

1. I'm a man. I've had people confused over this in the past on the blogs, as my pseudonym offers few clues. (I've also had a waiter confused over this at a restaurant. While on a date. Is that TMI?)
2. I live with two women and a cat. I have found myself occasionally daydreaming what to do with all the extra hair found around the house.
3. I am currently coauthoring a couple of papers with an MIT professor.
4. You would, in all likelihood, never read the papers I write. Unless you're, like, into rheology and tribology.
5. I love music. Okay, no secret there; but I try to pass that love on to my kids starting in the womb by making CDs of favorite songs for each of them that Mrs. E played whilst pregnant.
6. I like to use big words - like peregrination and indemnification. But not to appear important because I can use them properly in a sentence; I use them when they just best express what I want to say.
7. I get migraine headaches. Let me tell you, it's a blast.

To complete the requirement of being tagged, I now tag everyone whose birthday is on an odd-numbered day (as is mine, a bonus 8^th thing you didn't know about me).

Tags: Tagging, Memes, Rheology, Tribology, Personal Trivia, Hair, Migraine Headaches, Papers

Hey, baby, do the hustle

Oh yeah, its real. Grab your kids (7 and under only), slip on your platforms, gold chains, and leisure suits, and get your moves on. It's Baby Loves Disco. I really don't know what else to say, except burn, baby, burn! And the only thing that is slowing us down from going is the cost: $12 per walking human.

Apologies. I feel I really left a lot on the table with this post. Honestly, when Mrs. E first told me about this I thought there is just so much material here to work with that it was a natural for posting. Alas, I came to the plate and struck out on this one. Pathetic and shameful, really. If I were a Brant Hansen or a Shaun Groves, with a true spiritual gift of sarcasm, then you would have enjoyed this post and come away laughing. I promise to do better next time.

Tags: Baby Loves Disco

Rheology in action (or, How to be dull and cool at the same time)

Yesterday I promised Chaotic Hammer that I would provide something even more exciting than watching glitter settle, watching paint dry, or watching grass grow. As it so happens, it is something right up my alley.

What I speak of is an experiment in rheology. But first, let me introduce you to Deborah - judge of Israel and the first recorded rheologist. There is a relation, called the Deborah number which relates the time over which an object is deformed to some characteristic time of the material. If the deformation occurs faster than the characteristic time, the object behaves like a solid. But, if the deformation occurs over a long period of time the material will flow. Deborah described this in her song of praise when she said "The mountains flowed before the LORD" (Judges 5:5). Yes, even rock flows, given enough time.

And so, the experiment I speak of is The Pitch Drop Experiment - recognized as the longest running laboratory experiment by the Guinness Book of World Records. Started in 1927, this experiment has won its initiator an Ig-Nobel Prize for Physics in 2005! What you see here is a funnel which was filled with hot pitch in 1927, allowed to harden for three years, and then in 1930 the stem of the funnel was opened and the pitch allowed to flow. For those of you not familiar with pitch, it has long been used to seal boats against leaking; however, at room temperature it is hard and glassy and will shatter when hit (see below picture).


Are you bored yet? Well, it gets better. As I described above, even rock flows over time, and this pitch flows much faster than rock. In the 77 years since the stem was opened and amazing eight drops of pitch have exuded from this funnel of "solid" pitch. Wow! And a ninth drop is forming. They have a webcam on it, but I cannot seem to get it to work for me - ah, well. The current curator of the experiment, among others, hope it will continue for another century - "sympathetic custodians permitting".

This website and experiment are so blandly exciting that they were awarded the Dull Website of the Year — 2006 award by The Dull Men's Club. It was tough competition, but they edged out the International Vinegar Museum in South Dakota, Mushy Peas, Turnips, and Something. Again, wow; although in all honesty Turnips and Something hardly deserved to be in contention.

Really, you should take some time to check out The Dull Men's Club - just make sure you have been highly caffeinated before viewing their site. They currently have a vigorous conversation ongoing over the best marmalade and have highlighted a new documentary film honoring the fiftieth anniversary of "the world's font" - Helvetica. It is actually a highly-rated film on Internet Movie Database. Again, wow. But don't get too excited.

In the vein of today's post, I will close with a dull piece of trivia: what do the following words have in common?

Assess	Banana
Dresser	Grammar
Potato	Revive
Uneven	Voodoo

Tags: Dull, Boring, Interesting, Trivia, Experiment, Rheology, Pitch