Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Top 10 Canada Adventures
(not in order!)
- whale watching in a Zodiac. From Victoria Inner Harbour and along the south coast of Vancouver Island. The exhiliration of the boat trip alone made it worth it, but the orca were quite sublime. We found ourselves in the path of the pod as it headed west and one or two surfaced right next to the boat!
- White water rafting at Whistler. Breathless fun, made all the more exciting when mum went overboard!
- Valdes (wilderness island). Swimming, shooting, eating. An amazing cabin (and company!) And a fabulous, getting-lost adventure in the forest. Scrambling over logging 'remains' and tree-bridges through mazes of dead-fall and finding our way home again.. no trouble!
- Caving at Horne Lake. A $5 bargain. Unguided, dark, and surprisingly challenging. Scrambling over muddy rocks deep in the ground..wahey!
- Peak chair at Whistler. Civilised but fun! Steep near-vertical climb up the cliff, view of the glacier, snow at the top.
- Wading the Green River on horseback. Water up to the saddle and our knees pulled up, horses struggling against the current. Felt like we were in a Western disaster movie!
- Clambering over the rocks from Botanical Beach to Botany Bay. Juan de Fuca trail. Heavy damp fog made it all the more mysterious. Exploring the island at Botany Bay and trying not to fall in the sea.
- Steam-powered saw mill at Port Alberni. Could have watched all day! Amazing.
- Miller family reunion at Parksville. 32 people. Photos of everyone, Granma lifted in a chair.
- Mini golf. 3 times? 4? Brendan was addicted and dragged us kicking and screaming...
(I have a good number more pictures but unfortunately they're still in Canada..long story!)
- whale watching in a Zodiac. From Victoria Inner Harbour and along the south coast of Vancouver Island. The exhiliration of the boat trip alone made it worth it, but the orca were quite sublime. We found ourselves in the path of the pod as it headed west and one or two surfaced right next to the boat!- White water rafting at Whistler. Breathless fun, made all the more exciting when mum went overboard!
- Valdes (wilderness island). Swimming, shooting, eating. An amazing cabin (and company!) And a fabulous, getting-lost adventure in the forest. Scrambling over logging 'remains' and tree-bridges through mazes of dead-fall and finding our way home again.. no trouble!
- Caving at Horne Lake. A $5 bargain. Unguided, dark, and surprisingly challenging. Scrambling over muddy rocks deep in the ground..wahey!- Peak chair at Whistler. Civilised but fun! Steep near-vertical climb up the cliff, view of the glacier, snow at the top.
- Wading the Green River on horseback. Water up to the saddle and our knees pulled up, horses struggling against the current. Felt like we were in a Western disaster movie!
- Clambering over the rocks from Botanical Beach to Botany Bay. Juan de Fuca trail. Heavy damp fog made it all the more mysterious. Exploring the island at Botany Bay and trying not to fall in the sea.
- Steam-powered saw mill at Port Alberni. Could have watched all day! Amazing.
- Miller family reunion at Parksville. 32 people. Photos of everyone, Granma lifted in a chair.
- Mini golf. 3 times? 4? Brendan was addicted and dragged us kicking and screaming...
(I have a good number more pictures but unfortunately they're still in Canada..long story!)
Monday, August 29, 2005
Weekend wanderings
2 days, 420 miles, 3 cities, 4 highly secret locations, 7 friends, 2 farm vehicles, 3 dogs, 2 'detours' and almost 9 hrs in the car....a most excellent weekend!
Saturday morning, after a slightly hurried start, I made my way to my friend Caroline's farm in Suffolk. The A12 is not the fastest road in the world and this was the longest section of my trip by far. Lovely to be back in round bale land...highlights were rides in the combine harvester and the tractor (didn't drive it this time though!).
Then onwards to Cambridge and Susie's house. Time to quiz (and congratulate!) Jon on his engagement to Anastasia..and generally catch up with the Cambridge gossip.
Sunday morning found me on my way to Lincolnshire, to lunch with some old friends of the family, Judy and Roland. I caught up with Judy, read Roland's sermon (and managed to say the right things), had a yummy lunch, acquired an excellent painting and was off again, this time to York.
Stopped by to see Sherv's new house, the main challenge being to find it! Then, it was time to call an end to my wanderings and get back on the A1..homeward bound. Arrived at the Bonnington's just before 8 for a lovely evening catching up with Durham folks and a late game of Catan.
Things I found out:
- How Jon proposed
- Straw bales in Lincolnshire are square, not round
- The secret location of Sherv's cottage
- A combine harvester is a rather splendid piece of machinery
- Judy paints some excellent watercolour pictures
Saturday morning, after a slightly hurried start, I made my way to my friend Caroline's farm in Suffolk. The A12 is not the fastest road in the world and this was the longest section of my trip by far. Lovely to be back in round bale land...highlights were rides in the combine harvester and the tractor (didn't drive it this time though!).
Then onwards to Cambridge and Susie's house. Time to quiz (and congratulate!) Jon on his engagement to Anastasia..and generally catch up with the Cambridge gossip.
Sunday morning found me on my way to Lincolnshire, to lunch with some old friends of the family, Judy and Roland. I caught up with Judy, read Roland's sermon (and managed to say the right things), had a yummy lunch, acquired an excellent painting and was off again, this time to York.
Stopped by to see Sherv's new house, the main challenge being to find it! Then, it was time to call an end to my wanderings and get back on the A1..homeward bound. Arrived at the Bonnington's just before 8 for a lovely evening catching up with Durham folks and a late game of Catan.
Things I found out:
- How Jon proposed
- Straw bales in Lincolnshire are square, not round
- The secret location of Sherv's cottage
- A combine harvester is a rather splendid piece of machinery
- Judy paints some excellent watercolour pictures
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Magic Number 1
And now for a bit of maths...
(I continue to be fascinated with the strange results of probability theory..see the Monty Hall problem)
Did you know... if you take any large set of numerical data from randomly selected statistics (importantly, not 'pure' random numbers) then the number 1 will appear as a leading digit about 30% of the time.
The man who first brought this to light was called Dr. Frank Benford, and thus this strange result is called 'Benford's Law'. It is used in accounting to detect fraud, because, for a non-fraudulent set of accounts, running all the figures through a computer will give the result above - the number 1 appears as the leading digit (e.g. 13.00, 1.15, 1602.38) 30% of the time. A result that is significantly different from this and it's time to call in the auditors!
Check out this page for a fuller description. A nice demonstration of why this is the case can be found at the bottom of the page.
(I continue to be fascinated with the strange results of probability theory..see the Monty Hall problem)
Did you know... if you take any large set of numerical data from randomly selected statistics (importantly, not 'pure' random numbers) then the number 1 will appear as a leading digit about 30% of the time.
The man who first brought this to light was called Dr. Frank Benford, and thus this strange result is called 'Benford's Law'. It is used in accounting to detect fraud, because, for a non-fraudulent set of accounts, running all the figures through a computer will give the result above - the number 1 appears as the leading digit (e.g. 13.00, 1.15, 1602.38) 30% of the time. A result that is significantly different from this and it's time to call in the auditors!
Check out this page for a fuller description. A nice demonstration of why this is the case can be found at the bottom of the page.
Freedom and Uncertainty
We were having a discussion last night at dinner about freedom and uncertainty in the universe. I was reflecting on what the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle (HUP) implies about the universe as created by God.
For those unfamiliar with Heisenberg’s theory, it’s this:
“The more precisely the position [of a particle, e.g. electron] is determined, the less precisely the momentum is known in this instant, and vice versa.”
In other words, you cannot know both a particle’s position and its movement at the same time. In the quantum world, you must speak in probabilities. For example, as this website helpfully explains:
I can only say that an atom will be at some location with a 99 % probability, and that there will be a 1 % probability it will be somewhere else (in fact, there will be a small but finite probability that it can even be found across the Universe).
Heisenberg was primarily concerned with measurement. His principle implied that previously certain Classical ‘realities’, such as speed, direction, mass, position, were meaningless in the new quantum world and he argued that some aspects come into existence only as they are measured. ("The 'path' comes into existence only when we observe it.") In this way, the uncertainty at the heart of the quantum world is not a result of our poor measurement technique, but an integral part of the universe itself.
This had massive implications, not least for Newton’s idea of causality. In simple terms, the classical view was that if the position and momentum of every particle in the universe could be determined, then you could predict the path of each based on the forces acting on it, i.e. predict the future. Of course, to Newton, only God could possibly have the observational and computational power to accomplish this. But, as Heisenberg pointed out: "In the sharp formulation of the law of causality—‘if we know the present exactly, we can calculate the future’-it is not the conclusion that is wrong but the premise." Essentially, what he’s saying is that it’s impossible to know the present exactly (but the limit is not on the knowing, but on the ‘exactly’).
The question I asked is, since the uncertainty principle seems to be part of the very fabric of the universe and an integral characteristic of quantum particles, is the universe ‘uncertain’ even to God? In the same way as He’s given us freedom, has He built a similar freedom into the physical universe?
Dad is reading Greg Boyd’s ‘Satan and the Problem of Evil’ and was similarly reflecting on what it meant for humans (and angels) to have real freedom, and the necessary uncertainty built into that.
Thoughts anyone?
(Quotes are taken from this website where you can also read more about Heisenberg)
For those unfamiliar with Heisenberg’s theory, it’s this:
“The more precisely the position [of a particle, e.g. electron] is determined, the less precisely the momentum is known in this instant, and vice versa.”
In other words, you cannot know both a particle’s position and its movement at the same time. In the quantum world, you must speak in probabilities. For example, as this website helpfully explains:
I can only say that an atom will be at some location with a 99 % probability, and that there will be a 1 % probability it will be somewhere else (in fact, there will be a small but finite probability that it can even be found across the Universe).
Heisenberg was primarily concerned with measurement. His principle implied that previously certain Classical ‘realities’, such as speed, direction, mass, position, were meaningless in the new quantum world and he argued that some aspects come into existence only as they are measured. ("The 'path' comes into existence only when we observe it.") In this way, the uncertainty at the heart of the quantum world is not a result of our poor measurement technique, but an integral part of the universe itself.
This had massive implications, not least for Newton’s idea of causality. In simple terms, the classical view was that if the position and momentum of every particle in the universe could be determined, then you could predict the path of each based on the forces acting on it, i.e. predict the future. Of course, to Newton, only God could possibly have the observational and computational power to accomplish this. But, as Heisenberg pointed out: "In the sharp formulation of the law of causality—‘if we know the present exactly, we can calculate the future’-it is not the conclusion that is wrong but the premise." Essentially, what he’s saying is that it’s impossible to know the present exactly (but the limit is not on the knowing, but on the ‘exactly’).
The question I asked is, since the uncertainty principle seems to be part of the very fabric of the universe and an integral characteristic of quantum particles, is the universe ‘uncertain’ even to God? In the same way as He’s given us freedom, has He built a similar freedom into the physical universe?
Dad is reading Greg Boyd’s ‘Satan and the Problem of Evil’ and was similarly reflecting on what it meant for humans (and angels) to have real freedom, and the necessary uncertainty built into that.
Thoughts anyone?
(Quotes are taken from this website where you can also read more about Heisenberg)
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Photo tasters
One of the many waterfalls we stopped to visit. Brendan never misses an opportunity to get rid of his shirt...
For a while there the mini/crazy golf bug struck us hard. (I told them to make 'serious golfer' poses... not quite what I meant!)
A rather ominous thick sea fog makes its way towards us...
Granma surveys her crazy brood.
Another day, another lake, and another opportunity to strip off and go swimming!
For a while there the mini/crazy golf bug struck us hard. (I told them to make 'serious golfer' poses... not quite what I meant!)
A rather ominous thick sea fog makes its way towards us...
Granma surveys her crazy brood.
Another day, another lake, and another opportunity to strip off and go swimming!
Home at last
Wow, strange to be back in grey ol' London after such a trip. Just got back this morning after a killer longhaul flight..i'm so stiff! I was just glad to make it through passport control - my hair colour has seen a little change..
It's been a fab month and had some great adventures. But the best bit was definitely connecting with family. Ours is getting bigger each year and it's great to meet so many people that you have this shared connection with.
I'm thinking of putting some of the photos together with a mini account of the trip on a website when i get back to Durham. But for now, i'll put up one or two. Hard to know where to start! Plus you might want to check some of the photos on BJ's Garden blog.
Hope people are well and you've all had fab summers!
It's been a fab month and had some great adventures. But the best bit was definitely connecting with family. Ours is getting bigger each year and it's great to meet so many people that you have this shared connection with.
I'm thinking of putting some of the photos together with a mini account of the trip on a website when i get back to Durham. But for now, i'll put up one or two. Hard to know where to start! Plus you might want to check some of the photos on BJ's Garden blog.
Hope people are well and you've all had fab summers!
Sunday, August 14, 2005
Family Fun
I'm planning a fuller Canada story and photos when I get back but here's a look at the Miller clan...
Friday, July 22, 2005
It's arrived! yay!
Well, I've got there at last! Finished school for the year, I'm now in London - my last evening in England for a while. We're off at 8am tomorrow morning so no end-of-term lie-in for me! It's really exciting to be going back to Canada again, and I'm looking forward to getting on a plane again (first time in 5 years or so) and later going by boat, ferry, horseback, white water raft, kayak, bus, rental car and who knows what else? Yay!
Everyone, have a great summer. If you feel like saying hi I'd love to hear about what you're up to (you could even leave me a 'hello' by replying to this post with a comment!) and I'll try and reply when i get connected.. Otherwise, I'll see you all soon xx
Everyone, have a great summer. If you feel like saying hi I'd love to hear about what you're up to (you could even leave me a 'hello' by replying to this post with a comment!) and I'll try and reply when i get connected.. Otherwise, I'll see you all soon xx
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Family life
For a glimpse of life in the London Millers house check out this poem about my brother's birthday party preparations... it made me laugh a lot!
Saturday, July 16, 2005
War of the Worlds
If you haven't seen this yet (and especially if you don't know the book), look out for the splinter scene with his daughter.. it's the key to the whole story!
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Making house
I have been pondering recently the mystery of a 'good house' (and i'm not talking about the physical building). What are the things which make a house somewhere you'd want to live?
Something that's really important to me is hospitality, although I'm not always as good as I'd like to be! What makes a house hospitable? What makes it a warm place to be and somewhere you feel comfortable?
Here are some ideas to be starting off with..
Values shared by housemates (e.g. hospitality)
Full part played by every housemate (rights and responsibilities)
Shared ownership (seems important but hard to define exactly what I mean.. something like 'we're in it together')
Meals together
Joint 'expenses' (food etc)
Welcoming guests - whoever has invited them
Decisions discussed together and nothing 'assumed' (tricky!)
I like to have housemates who look out for me and aren't afraid to challenge me when necessary
Any others?
Something that's really important to me is hospitality, although I'm not always as good as I'd like to be! What makes a house hospitable? What makes it a warm place to be and somewhere you feel comfortable?
Here are some ideas to be starting off with..
Any others?
Postcard pathos
If you haven't seen it already, check out the link to Postsecret on Hils' Jog Blog. What a fantastic idea and in some cases an eye opener. The comments, as well as the postcards, are worth reading.
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Durham Miners' Gala
The Gala (pronounced gae-la rather than gar-la apparently!) was great fun yesterday. I've never seen so many marching bands in one place before! Durham was as full as I've ever seen it and definitely not with students. The music and the banners were great and I was starting to feel some stirrings of socialist sympathy..but then the speeches started. So stereotypical that I couldn't take them seriously, they felt like some bizarre self-parody.
I felt completely out of my depth in some ways, a different country where I didn't really belong, or indeed never really visited. But I loved seeing some glimpse of the history of the people and the land up here..I feel like I understand Durham better for it.
I got chatting to various people during the day, on the street and in shops..everyone had a different take on the day, some merely resigned. A shopkeeper on North Road said they used to have to board up the shops along there, and there was certainly a very visible police presence on the street. We heard the odd rumour of 'trouble' later in the day, but generally it all seemed very good natured.
I felt completely out of my depth in some ways, a different country where I didn't really belong, or indeed never really visited. But I loved seeing some glimpse of the history of the people and the land up here..I feel like I understand Durham better for it.
I got chatting to various people during the day, on the street and in shops..everyone had a different take on the day, some merely resigned. A shopkeeper on North Road said they used to have to board up the shops along there, and there was certainly a very visible police presence on the street. We heard the odd rumour of 'trouble' later in the day, but generally it all seemed very good natured.
Journal
Seymour, in his article on journaling on our group blog has inspired me to start a proper journal again. His idea for a DNPQ structure appeals to me, so let's see how it goes!
I bought a niceish notebook from Smiths.. it has a quote from Proust on the front: "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes but in having new eyes", which kind of sums up what I see as part of the value in journaling. Being able to reflect on life, not only as you write, but as part of a larger whole, a 'history' if you like.
I bought a niceish notebook from Smiths.. it has a quote from Proust on the front: "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes but in having new eyes", which kind of sums up what I see as part of the value in journaling. Being able to reflect on life, not only as you write, but as part of a larger whole, a 'history' if you like.
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