Show Notes - Week of September 30, 2019

Greetings once again from 53.5⁰ north latitude. Technically speaking, most of this week's post was written at 53.1⁰ north and 117.⁰ west. How do I know that, you ask? Well, I spent the weekend in a log cabin at Jasper Gates, which is right next to the Folding Mountain Brewery, and they have merch with their coordinates on it. No need to Google or use a GPS if you are lost. Just point to your shirt and have the driver take you there!

It was a guys’ weekend trip to the mountains with my friend Craig, coordinated by our friend Mike. I’ll briefly touch on that trip, including some thoughts about the mountains and a few personal reflections. Other than that, we are on countdown mode for our system launch in four weeks, there was one book read, a surprisingly low number of new beers given the trip to the mountains, and a handful of new words. ​

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The Mountains:
The size and beauty of the mountains are really amazing. The scenery is breath-taking.

It is amazing how much I take the mountains for granted. From Edmonton, we are less than three hours from the mountains so it isn’t really a day-trip distance, but it is absolutely accessible for a weekend. I don’t think I am ever blasé about seeing the mountains, but I don’t think I appreciate how lucky we are to be so close. This hit home when we were soaking in the pools at Miette Hot Springs and hearing all of the foreign languages and accents in the crowds around us. People travel from Europe and Asia to come soak in the same pool that I could be at every weekend if I chose.

Mike and Craig convinced me to go into the cold pools at Miette. Imagine sitting in the 38°C pool, trudging across the cold tile deck and jumping in a pool that is 10°C. The imagine patting yourself down to make sure that you didn't suffer from cardiac arrest, and going straight back into the hot pool. The feeling of the intense pins-and-needles across the body is really quite remarkable. It took me a lot of convincing to get me to go in the first time, but after that, it was much easier.

I can't say I enjoyed jumping into the cold water as it was just far too shocking to the system, but I am glad I did it. I certainly was in a positive mental state from doing something outside my comfort zone, but I would be hard-pressed to quantify any increase in a physiological sense. Mike promised to share some research about the physiological benefits that I am looking forward to reading - something about positive outcomes for the visceral fat surrounding the organs. Even without being able to quantify a benefit, the mental boost was definitely worth it

Reading Pile:
I finished one book this week and made a good dent in another. Neil Degrasse Tyson’s “Astrophysics for People in a Hurry” was a quick read that left some solid impressions. Early in the book, Tyson explains the difference between the laws of nature and the social, legal, and moral creations of humankind.

​The power and beauty of physical laws is that they apply everywhere, whether or not you choose to believe in them. In other words, after the laws of physics, everything else is opinion.

Tyson is clearly a smart individual, and I am not qualified to judge where he ranks within the echelons of the world’s brightest scientists. His true gift though, in my opinion, is how accessible he is, and how accessible he makes the topics of the cosmos and the universe. There is a great multi-line sequence where Tyson describes the creation of the universe through to the scientific discoveries over the last several hundred years through to Einstein’s theories and finally to recent empirical findings that corroborate what Einstein predicted, all to be summed up with the statement: “Einstein was a badass”. Yep, pretty accessible. 

The last chapter in the book was about taking all of what we know and understanding how we fit into the world, the galaxy, and even the universe. Tyson calls this the “cosmic perspective”. I’ll leave you with one more quote from the book that I think is truly worth reflecting on.

​The cosmic perspective opens our eyes to the universe, not as a benevolent cradle designed to nurture life but as a cold, lonely, hazardous place, forcing us to reassess the value of all humans to one another.

New Beers (and Ramen):
As I mentioned in the intro, our cabins were within a couple hundred meters of Folding Mountain Brewery, which makes some great beers. Our first stop even before going to the cabins was to grab a couple of beers from their wonderful facility.

Their building is as nice as their beers.

The first from Folding Mountain was their Three Seasons Honey Wheat, which was good but not great. (3.25 / 5) The second was their Ridgeline Imperial IPA, which was much more my kind of beer. A bit boozy due to the 9.5% ABV, but not so much to be overpowering. Lots of flavor and a great aroma. (3.75 / 5)

After that was Coors Banquet. Yes, you read that correctly. Coors. My profile on Untappd says "On a personal quest to drink one of every beer in the world." and Coors Banquet therefore needed to be tried. Like all Coors beers, it is mass-produced and is targeted to a market that wants consistency and an easy taste. With that in mind, it is well done. Certainly better than Bud or Bud Light or Molson Canadian, but that doesn't mean it was good. It didn't even come close to the Three Seasons from Folding Mountain, and I wasn't really fond of that one. I rated it at 2.25 / 5 on Untappd, and that might even be a bit generous. 

Last on the list for this week was the Jasper Brewing 6060 Stout. I have liked the beers from Jasper Brewing so far, and this was my favourite. Easy drinking, good flavor, smooth taste. It could have been better with a bit more chocolate, but that's probably getting too picky to be honest. (3.75 / 5.0) On top of that, I had probably the best bowl of ramen I have ever had. I might still have been basking in the endorphin rush after the Miette pools, but it was great. In fact, it was so great, I think I am going to have to start tracking and rating the ramen I eat to see how they stack up against this one. 

The 6060 was my unique check-in Number 600 on Untappd. I'm still averaging a new beer every 2.5 or 3 days or so - more exactly, every 2.76 days as of today. But with all of those beers and the 600th check-in, no badges from Untappd this week.

New Words:
There were only a few new words from Tyson’s book, but I am now reading “The Silk Roads” by Peter Frankopan, and that added the rest. 

hectoring
[ˈhektəriNG]
ADJECTIVE

1. talking in a bullying way.

solicitude
[səˈlisəˌt(y)o͞od]
NOUN

1. care or concern for someone or something.

elide
[ēˈlīd]
VERB

1. omit (a sound or syllable) when speaking.
   
2. join together; merge.

stupa
[ˈsto͞opə]
NOUN

1. a dome-shaped structure erected as a Buddhist shrine.

amphora
[ˈamfərə, amˈfôrə]
NOUN

1. a tall ancient Greek or Roman jar with two handles and a narrow neck.

diadem
[ˈdīəˌdem]
NOUN

1. a jeweled crown or headband worn as a symbol of sovereignty.

extremophile
[ekˈstreməˌfīl]
NOUN

1. a microorganism, especially an archaean, that lives in conditions of extreme temperature, acidity, alkalinity, or chemical concentration.

sesquipedalian
[ˌseskwəpəˈdālyən]
ADJECTIVE
formal

1. (of a word) polysyllabic; long.
   
2. characterized by long words; long-winded.

​asterism
[ˈastəˌrizəm]
NOUN

1. astronomy
   a prominent pattern or group of stars, typically having a popular name but smaller than a constellation.