The abc-Conjecture Solved???

About a week ago, Yuhan Zha posted (what he claims to be) a proof of the abc-conjecture on arXiv. Let's wait to see if it is correct.

Elizabeth Alexander

At Obama’s inauguration ceremony, a poet, Elizabeth Alexander, recited her poem. Her name sounded faintly familiar to me; somewhere between Elizabeth Bishop and Alexander Pope. At the ceremony, I suppose she rose to the height of her popularity. Today, I remembered where I first heard of her name. It was on a poetryfoundation.org broadcast in February 2007. She talked about poems by Langston Hughes. She was introduced as an expert of African America literature and a poet at Yale University. Sure enough, recalling her poem at the ceremony, which I do not fully remember, it was rather like Hughes, the voices of people. She talked about mundane life of ordinary people, didn’t she? I’ll look up for her works.

Lagavulin

I've just had Lagavulin 16 years old. It reminded me of Ileach.

Two Beers

Gouden Carolus Triple: I drank this again after a long hiatus. This was my first choice golden colored beer before. It was good, indeed.

La Trappe Blond (glass bottle): I had La Trappe Tripel before, so I have wanted to try this one too for a long time. Its aroma was weaker than that of the above beer. Compared to Tripel, it was less sweet. I personally like Tripel better for now.

Interpretation/Translation/Math (avec du whisky)

I'll probably go to a next seminar for legal interpreters. Hopefully, I'll register myself. Is it that easy, or not? It shouldn't be that easy, right?

I'm thinking of sitting for an exam and being a licensed "guide-interpreter".

If I do, I'll let you know. As for a guide-interpreter, the English section of the exam is easy, but Japanese section is not. I need to study Japanese history, economics, politics and culture. It's tricky, but I suppose advanced high school level is sufficient. (For your info., I was very very lazy in these fields when I was back in high school. A typical back-of-a-classroom student...additionally sleeping.)

Translation has nice pay check per hour, but there is no constant job. You've gotta work in different fields. Hah! It destroys one's creativity! One needs to concentrate on one thing to be creative, doesn't one?

By the way, my math document on SCRIBD was downloaded twice, which means somebody thought it was worth reading at least for a moment when s/he clicked "download".

I'm having Bowmore again. It's a nice whisky. These days, I feel whisky is Scotch and other whisky should be called, for example, corn liquor (Bourbon).

I have one political joke about cabinet. I'll probably post it next time.

Tanduay and Guitar (Tagalish to English, written under some influence of alcohol)

Ngayong gabi, umiinom ako ng Tanduay aged 15 years na pasalubong from Jorge. Bumili si Tatay ni Jorge ito. Mabait siya, di ba? Nakainom ako ng ordinary Tanduay for the first time kasama ni German teacher (turista din) sa hotel sa Banaue. Second time, nagbigay si Gennie ang isang bote sa akin. Kasi hindi ako puwedeng matandaan niton taste, I can't compare the two. Pero, akala kong gumagand ang 15 years after I first opened the bottle a few days ago. It has more aroma now.

When I first opened it, it weakly smelled like melon. In order to improve the aroma, I mixed it with water. (It usually works with whisky.) It worked but not quite satisfying. Then since I wanted to drink it, I insanely mixed it with coffee just like Irish coffee. Wish I didn't do that. Well, it's just one or two shots, though....

Tonight I'm drinking it straight as I always do with excellent liquor. It's tasty with more aroma. It is smooth when you swallow too. Maybe I was just tired for the last two days and that's why I couldn't appreciate it...I don't know. I still think the aroma improved. You see, if you leave an empty glass of whisky after you drink it for 30 minutes or so, it usually has different aroma. Something like that. Wine too. It changes its aroma if you leave it for a while. (Or does it just change my mood?)

I was practicing "Turn Me On" by Norah Jones on the guitar. Isn't it wonderful if you can play jazz or something like jazz? There is one guitarist I admire. I mean, a professional guitarist because I admire virtually everyone who can play well. He plays once a month at Gael (a great pub!!!). He's going to have an acoustic live with another guitarist on January 27th or something here in Kyoto. I may go listen to that. Wanna come?