Thursday 10 September 2009

screw mathematical models. bread is where it's at.

i've decided against using those google maps images - not only do they take forever to load, but they're so out of date that there's really non point trying to show what i want to show with things that don't even show up on the pictures. plus, they're not that pretty :/ i'll just reserve some spots for picture which i'll take sometime.

anyway. back to the route. flowers, cats, and conifers. first, a few amendments are in order, thanks to our local scrutiniser.

"the sickly sweet smell of honey and bark" - now that i actually try to define the smell, rather than just taking it in, it's more like honey, sandalwood and watered down vinegar. this is somewhat disturbing that i actually like the smell.

"either a black cat or a striped one"
- this one's thanks to my regular schedule of waking up early before lectures. 5 minutes before they start is pretty good, compared to the 3 i frequented during undergrad years. anyway, met another cat, this one's white and she's pretty feisty. can't say the colour-coding stereotyping hasn't escaped my notice, but in the end, i even got to carry her half-way to the hospital (which i ended up being late for. good game).

something about the maths
- if you've actually tried modelling, then you need to get out more. don't worry, it doesn't burn. not that i expect to receive any enthusiastic submissions, but so far one (glancing) mention by mr.kay is a near miss (if you consider 20 miles near OH SICK BURN). it's much less complicated than you think, kay (spoilarz in comments section later).

anyway, moving on. other reasons to use the route i do:

someone has a huge house along this designated path. it comes with a swimming pool, a nasty-ass rottweiler (i actually have no idea what dog it is but for effect, let's say it's one of those emo, always angry-dogs), carpetgrass lawn, harem, and registered ninja. but more importantly, he has an old skool ride. it's a maroon cadillac, and me not being a car enthusiast enables me to stop at that. it's very rare that an ozzie has that car (don't think i've seen another caddie here, yet) and it has the plate fifty5 so i'm assuming it's a model from that year. pictures for the throng of fans when i get around to it. on a side note, i've seen quite a few nasty cars around here, but neither knowing what they are nor carrying my camera means you just get to dream up what they look like.

there's a tree (again i don't know what the eff it is. i'm pretty horrible at this descriptive stuff) which used to be plain, but now that it's spring, it's actually lost its leaves and in place grown some fiery-red flowers. imagine a deciduous tree (although this one is not, the leaves do look as if they were) but colour it red. it's especially a sight to see during sunset, when i conveniently return from class. if you've watched 'the ring', you'll recall a burning tree in the prophecy. or some shit like that. yeah it's a splitting image of that. was actually pretty until i realised the similarity to that horror flick. now it just creeps me the f out. sigh, now i'm blogging at 2 a.m. with no lights on, with this image of sadako (name?) coming out of the tv in my head. mommy :(

ahem. one last thing, even though there's quite a few sights and sounds i've omitted. probably the highlight of the forward journey to class, during the early hours when nothing has stirred (which in australia means 8am), i'll arrive in front of the local bakery as they're making bread. this reminds me of passing in front of subway on my way to hospital in south london. without the noise and pollution. and instead of the plastic smell of processed meat mingling with burnt bread. and early morning hookers. and bums trying to sell me weed.

'hey brah, need some good stuff?'


ah, those were the days. dude, i'm not your brah and i don't need your shit. go the eff away.

where was i. oh yeah, the good stuff. wholesome bakery bread. like really good stuff, that you know is hand made, not the synthetic crap they serve at subway. which i readily engulf anyway because i'm always hungry and a cheap bastard. nosiree, this is the smell of wafting ambrosia, in the morning, that sadly i've had to avoid for the past month, lest i be tempted to grab some of the cinnamon and honey wholemeal croissants. oh, god, so hungry, now. afk for food.

1 comment:

etc said...

for those interested:

you can show that for a square of roads n by n, the number of possible routes without backtracking is :

Sn = n(n+1)

(you can prove this by induction, if you want).

use this as a template for modified squares, by subtracting roads (alternatively add roads, but subtracting is less work):

{S'(m0)
Sn = n(n+1) - {S'(m0) + ... + S'(mj)
{S'(p)

need to find a way to actually write in formulae, because it's effin hard to describe this without being able to write it up properly.

anyway give the formula a try and you'll probably see what i mean.

some additional info that might help, for a square m by n, you can use the same derivation, but you'll end up with something similar to the middle term of the formula above.

happy calculating!