:: meanders ::

:: More than a Bee Gee...
The One Eyed Fan in the Butcher's Storeroom : the Bee Gees at Ossie Byrne�s St. Clair Recording Studio, 56 Queens Rd., Hurstville I rarely listen to the radio these days, particularly as I rarely drive anymore. So, wanting to know more about Maurice Gibb and the Bee Gee's beyond the repetitious Reuters/BBC releases, off I went to the web . I found various tributes -- not all of them simpering but one in particular downright aggressive (is it a 30-something "I'm too cool" sort of thing that drives one to write After all, when George Harrison of the Beatles and John Entwistle of The Who passed away last year, I didn't hear these kinds of testimonials. Perhaps children of the 1960s have already come to grips with their mortality. What a mean spirit that must rank the value of a death and cap that bromide with moral superiority. Fortunately, the bitterness of that "tribute" was washed clean away on finding this wonderful project by the Hurstville Council librarian. More than a memory, it is darned good writing that goes beyond a chronical of a particular small Austrailian band of the 60s, the BeeGees. Bill Casey, the local studies librarian, has assembled details of the music minor leagues that makes for compelling reading. Anyone who has ever wondered about what goes on behind the scenes will be pleased.

:: Godspeed, Maurice
The gifts of your lively and loving spirit are shared by all of us who have laughed, danced, and cried to your music over much of nearly 40 years. I know I and many others will continue to do so for 40 more. When I wear my hats I will think of you with happiness. Godspeed, Maurice. BBC News | The five ages of the Bee Gees

:: Einstein proved right on gravity

"The speed of gravity has been measured for the first time, revealing that it does indeed travel at the speed of light."BBC News - Einstein proved right on gravity

Something quite exciting about this measurement, perhaps an echo of the excitement felt when Einstein's first thoughts on the subject were presented early in the last century. While there are countless parallels in math and physics between the mechanical and electrical worlds, it is the mundane mechanical aspects of our physicality that in the end thwart much of the potential hinted by electronics. The uses of light, of electronics, cannot exist without the mechanical material to transport it. The failure of your computer is almost always a bad solder joint, a flexure failure, material fatigue, something mechanical. The electrons themselves rarely fail! It is gravity that underpins our mechanical world, much like the speed of light is a foundation for all things electrical. The major implications of this relationship are in the large distances and massive objects of space. Nevertheless, this startling concept, linking gravity and light, is truly profound. Perhaps in ways that in the end will be far more mundane than its current focus fixed in grandeur of the cosmos. Fruition of the search to "prove" it has taken nearly a century since Einstein's proposal in 1915 and is but a baby step to where the General Theory of Relativity will lead. Bravo!