Monday 20 May 2013

Conferences II

As I write this, yet another conference departure is on hand. Who can know what will occur at the fabled Gregynog in the next few days? Could the whole of Mathematics be revolutionised? Could biscuits overthrow the government and institute a bakedocracy? There is no way to tell...

I already covered conference lifestyles in a previous post - summarised by 'slow poison' - and now it's time to dive in again. This time the conference is at a country house, which is nice, and nowhere near so long as the BAMC so it could even be enjoyable! As these days in Aberystwyth dwindle to a close I would quite like to be spending time in this awesome place but instead there's a conference. 'C'est la vie' and 'Gather your rosebuds where you may'. We make the best of what we're given.

It's tough to concentrate on writing when work is at such a bizarre place. Both the existing work strands are in ruts and I can't find the correct lever to get them out of the mud. It's frustrating to be so stuck by technical problems, and that is what is blocking both my articles. Technical problems are the curse of any computer worker. Don't ever do applied mathematics unless you really enjoy programming!

Yesterday I watched 'The Great Waldo Pepper' from 1975, and that really struck me as a great forgotten movie. Everyone talks about 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' and 'The Sting' but no-one talks about this film. It's like the forgotten half-sibling who continually misses the beginnings of meals as no-one thinks to call them in. The flight sequences alone are astonishing! It's a story about heroism/ability and how some people are frustrated by not being able to show or prove that capacity within themselves. Since heroism is often more true in a quiet context it probably is more a movie about ability.

So, two days of conference to come, and the only thing there is to be proven is ability and concentration. Gosh, I hope the sandwiches are identifiable this time.

O.

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