Inside the City ... Outside the Box
Los Angeles pictures and stories by Laurie Allee
Showing posts with label LA People. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LA People. Show all posts
Friday, February 20, 2015
Quantum Mechanics ... and the Farmer's Market
Entanglement.
Schrödinger said it was the defining trait of quantum theory. What is it? It’s that quirky talent discovered by quantum physicists whereby a weird telepathic link allows teeny tiny subatomic particles to mysteriously influence each other’s properties even if they are very far away from one another. These particles are linked together -- or entangled -- so that one can't be sufficiently described without a full mention of its counterpart. In fact, you can instantly influence the properties of a particle on the opposite end of the universe by merely nudging its entangled twin. Some say the power travels at millions of times the speed of light. Even Einstein was baffled. He called it too spooky to be real.
Okay, so I can’t really get my head around it either.
But it gets me thinking…
The overly simplified but deeply poetic explanation of chaos theory told us that a butterfly beating its wings can eventually lead to a storm on the other side of the world. Everything is connected. Everything affects everything else. Some physicists now think quantum entanglement has macro implications, too.
So lets extrapolate ... or perhaps just take huge license with scientific theory. Sometimes it really does feel like little patches of life are oddly harmonious, as if seemingly separate things -- and people -- are somehow connected. For example: here at the Farmer’s Market the people strolling along seemed to just fall into a perfectly aligned formation and simultaneously smile, as if each separate individual was – somehow – inextricably linked. I couldn't have choreographed it any better. Coincidence? Probably. Entanglement? Heck, I'm gonna go with that...
Post originally published at Glimpses of South Pasadena
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Man of Arms
I'll resist from making a heavy metal joke, but dude, that's some seriously heavy metal. Meet master swordsmith and renound prop master Tony Swatton of Burbank's Sword and Stone. He's been a blacksmith armorer for over 30 years and has created weapons and other metal accoutrements for 200+ feature films. Tony and his team have forged original pieces for film, Broadway and Renaissance festivals all over the world. As Tony would say, these are not aluminum props ... these are deadly weapons of forged steel made much the way weapons were made in the middle ages. Heavy metal, man!
I had the pleasure of watching Tony showing off his brilliant skills at the recent Getty Center Family Festival Day of Chivalry. There was enough courtly bling to make your inner damsel swoon and your inner vavasseur long to kick some medieval ass. (And for what it's worth, I found out that there were a few women knights back in the day. Yes, that scene in Elizabeth where Cate Blanchett charges up to her troops on her horse wearing armor is not entirely anachronistic. See below for more details.)
I have to say, of all the amazing swords, armor, shields and chain mail goodies on display from Tony's team, this one was my favorite:
For a gallant horse who just longs to be a unicorn, or perhaps for anyone into a bit of really weird roleplaying...
Tony's YouTube channel Man at Arms offers great clips of his blastforged metal world. Be sure to check it out. Oh, and about those lady knights, I give you: The Order of the Hatchett.
I had the pleasure of watching Tony showing off his brilliant skills at the recent Getty Center Family Festival Day of Chivalry. There was enough courtly bling to make your inner damsel swoon and your inner vavasseur long to kick some medieval ass. (And for what it's worth, I found out that there were a few women knights back in the day. Yes, that scene in Elizabeth where Cate Blanchett charges up to her troops on her horse wearing armor is not entirely anachronistic. See below for more details.)
I have to say, of all the amazing swords, armor, shields and chain mail goodies on display from Tony's team, this one was my favorite:
For a gallant horse who just longs to be a unicorn, or perhaps for anyone into a bit of really weird roleplaying...
Tony's YouTube channel Man at Arms offers great clips of his blastforged metal world. Be sure to check it out. Oh, and about those lady knights, I give you: The Order of the Hatchett.
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