Holy smokes Batman, I've turned 27 years old!

First and foremost, I must apologize.  I have been a terrible blogger of late.  I could give a million different excuses for my lackluster performance, but honestly, blogging has just not been at the top of my priority list.  That being said, I do have some fun news: I had my 27th birthday two Mondays past!  It was a very exciting birthday for me as I got to drink mimosas while watching a very historic Boston Marathon.  I am really looking forward to this next year and all the craziness it will bring.  After all, I will be getting married to a beautiful woman, receiving a Doctor of Philosophy in Computational Science, Engineering, and Mathematics from the University of Texas, and running a (hopefully) fast time during the 2011 Austin Marathon.  Insanity galore.

Reflecting upon my 27th birthday, I have recognized that I don't have much longer in this wonderful city of Austin, Texas.  Hence, I have decided to put together an "Austin and Greater Texas Bucket List" of things I need to do and/or re-do before I skip town.  So far, I have thrown down the following items on the list:

(1) Attend Austin City Limits, Fun Fun Fun Fest, and South by Southwest.
(2) Make a venture out to Big Bend National Park.
(3) Run the Austin Marathon, the Capitol 10K, and the Congress Avenue Mile.
(4) Attend Fantastic Fest.
(5) Attend the UT-Oklahoma football game in Dallas.
(6) Go to the Texas State Fair.
(7) Attend the Zilker Park Kite Festival.
(8) Go on a grand tour in search of the best barbecue in all the land.
(9) Go on a grand tour in search of the best Tex-Mex in all the land.
(10) Go on a grand tour in search of the best chili in all the land.
(11) Go to an honest to God rodeo and try to enjoy myself.
(12) Go to Oktoberfest in Fredericksburg, Texas.
(13) Attend a concert at Austin City Limits Live.
(14) Go check out some Austin-style roller derby.
(15) Attend Eeyore's birthday (which coincidentally is today!).
(16) Ride the pubcrawler.
(17) Check out the various Texas wineries.
(18) Go to Hippie Hollow (Sarah may have dared me).
(19) Have an assortment of alcoholic beverages and hit a few golf balls at Peter Pan Mini-Golf.
(20) Check out the comedy club Esther's Follies.
(21) Spend a Thursday afternoon at Austin's Museum of Ephemerata.
(22) Get lost in Austin's Cathedral of Junk.

Naturally, I am looking for more items to put on the list, so please let me know if you have any suggestions.  You would have my utmost thanks.

Latest Update: July 7, 2011

One year went past and I didn't even know it.

I just realized that as of last Wednesday, it has been one year since I have tasted any gluten-y goodness.  And now I can drink peppermint tea again.  Win?  I think so.

Computational Architecture

CNN ran an interesting article yesterday on Michael Hansmeyer, a Swiss architect who has utilized some fairly sophisticated mathematics and computational tools to bring a new dimension to classical Gothic column architecture. At this point, there seems to be no general consensus as to the aesthetic qualities of Hansmeyer's work, but I contend no one can disagree with his work's technical merits.

To design his "sci-fi"-style columns, Hansmeyer utilizes subdivision, a computer animation technology that has made its fame in film and gaming. Classically, subdivision generates a smooth surface via the specification of a coarse, polygonal mesh and a limiting recursive process. For example, a sphere can be generated by applying the so-called Catmull-Clark subdivision scheme to a cube (it should be noted that Edwin Catmull, for whom the Catmull-Clark scheme is named, is one of the founders of Pixar Studios).

To create his unique designs, Hansmeyer has modified classical subdivision schemes such as Catmull-Clark in ways such that rougher, fractal-like (though not really self-similar) limit surfaces may be attained. For example, the image below displays the effect of applying one of Hansmeyer's modified subdivision schemes to a tetrahedron.

Here is another thing I discovered while glancing through Hansmeyer's webpage: there is an entire annual conference dedicated to the marriage of art and mathematics, and this conference appears to be both well-attended and chock full of impressive speakers.  For instance, William Paul Thurston, a 1982 Fields Medal recipient for his work on three-manifolds, will be one of the plenary speakers at this year's gathering.  Pretty cool stuff.

I would just like to mention in closing the enormous role computation now seems to play in architecture.  One of the members of my research group was actually an architect and part-time instructor at Pratt Institute in New York City before he came to Texas to work on a graduate degree in mechanical engineering.  He has spoken on many occasions about the prevalence of computer aided design (CAD) software in modern-day architecture.  For example, the CAD software package CATIA was used by Frank Gehry to design the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and it was recently used to help build the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Summer Olympics.  And now fractal-like columns using subdivision?  I am anxious to see what crazy things architects will present us with in the future.

...

Well that was embarrassing. That game was almost as difficult to watch as the Wisconsin-Pitt State slug-fest earlier this year.

Oh the anticipation.

In just a few minutes, we get to witness one of the most unlikely Division 1 basketball championships in history. The 3rd-seeded U'Conn Huskies will be taking on the 8th seeded Butler Bulldogs. In retrospect, this final shouldn't be completely unexpected. U'Conn won the Big East tournament, and the Big East was widely regarded as the biggest, baddest conference in the land after all. Moreover, as if we couldn't remember, Butler did almost upset Duke in last year's title game. So this begs the question: why did only slightly more than 800 people have these teams facing off in their brackets this year? Of course there are the obvious answers (U'Conn has got to be tired by now, Butler barely even made this tournament, etc.), but I still feel like we sold these two teams short.

So, who am I going to go with? Butler. I know I am a Big East homer and all, but who can Brad Steven's brilliant coaching? And who can resist his lovable mug? I know I sure can't.