Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra Concert

On March 11, 2013 · In Life, Weston

Yesterday afternoon, Barbara and I attended a beautiful concert given by the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra at Symphony Hall. Picture yourself there. Close your eyes and just listen. You forget that this was a youth orchestra; you think that the performers must already be professionals!…

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As Good as it Gets

On March 10, 2013 · In Movies & (occasionally) TV

So I managed to watch three quarters of As Good as it Gets before deciding it was time to make dinner and I wasn’t interested in finishing this 1997 movie. Despite an excellent performance (of course) from Jack Nicholson, it all just seemed too formulaic to me — a combination of the Grinch and Monk.…

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As you know, college admissions have become more competitive.

On March 8, 2013 · In Teaching & Learning, Weston

Does it matter that the most competitive colleges are harder to get into than they used to be? It certainly matters at Weston, and I’m sure at other top-ranked high schools as well. The question is whether the net effects are positive or negative.…

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AIME revised

On March 6, 2013 · In Math, Teaching & Learning, Weston

Contrary to my post of February 22, it turns out that Weston actually has nine students, not eight, who qualified for the AIME. Pravina Samaratunga (junior) took the qualifying test at a different location and therefore wasn’t included in my original list.…

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Ruth’s Chris

On February 28, 2013 · In Dorchester/Boston, Food & Restaurants

Barbara and I went to Ruth’s Chris last night — the first time for either of us at any Ruth’s Chris location. The positives outweighed the negatives, but…

Here’s the scoop. By and large the food was excellent. We both started with lobster bisque, which was tasty and well-prepared.…

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Double Indemnity

On February 27, 2013 · In Movies & (occasionally) TV

No spoilers here. I finally saw Double Indemnity, which I should have seen long ago. If you haven’t seen it, do so. This 1944 noir classic is surprising and modern for its time period, although it will still feel outdated to anyone today who isn’t paying attention to the fact that it’s almost 70 years old.…

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The Joy of x

On February 25, 2013 · In Books, Math, Teaching & Learning

Steven Strogatz has made a useful contribution to the surprisingly large set of math books written for the general public: The Joy of x: A Guided Tour of Math, from One to Infinity. I have to admit that I started out with a prejudice against this book, as I had expected the author to be annoying, as he was in The Calculus of Friendship. My reaction to The Calculus of Friendship was due mostly to Strogatz’s attitude toward his high-school calculus teacher, which felt more patronizing than respectful.…

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The Fractalist

On February 24, 2013 · In Books, Math

I had expected to be able to leaf through The Fractalist: Memoir of a Scientific Maverick, by Benoit Mandelbrot. I had expected that I would spot a couple of interesting nuggets along the way, but that the story couldn’t possibly sustain my interest enough to support a close read.…

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Kinsey and Me

On February 23, 2013 · In Books

At this point I’ve read 22 of Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone novels, starting with A is for Alibi and continuing on all the way through V is for Vengeance. This may sound extreme, but at Sue Grafton’s pace it isn’t: 22 books in 29 years is quite reasonable, both for her as a writer and for me as a reader.…

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AIME

On February 22, 2013 · In Math, Teaching & Learning, Weston

Congratulations to the eight Weston High School students who have been invited to take the prestigious American Invitational Math Exam:

  • seniors Ian Delaney, James Goulart, and Akshay Saini
  • juniors William Kretschmer and Daniel Rigobon
  • sophomore Kyle Chow
  • freshmen Akiva Gordon and Andrew Li

This is an impressive achievement!…

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