My daughter Olive, The youtube unboxer

Olive has recently become a fan of these weird youtube videos, they are basically unboxing videos for kids toys. Most of them are opening kinder surprise eggs and others are undboxing new toys. Well today we decided to make a couple of her own.

I now present the next youtube unboxing star!

And the second unboxing

Enjoy!

Physical shapes that allow us to imagine how time travel might work.

Credit: Sean MacEntee

Deep down inside we all look back on our choices in the past and wonder, what if I did it differently. What if I had said yes instead of no? What would happen if I could do it over?

This question has worked its way into numerous fictional works, especially in the last 100 years or so. And now more than ever we see movies, books and video games whose plots revolve around the ability to travel through time. Some focus on changing the past to affect the future, while others are dreams and nightmares of what the future holds for us.

To understand time travel we need to have an understanding of time itself. The problem is we have very little understanding of time. Instinctively we make observations of time based on the way we experience it, The present is currently happening while the past is fixed, it has already happened and cannot be changed, and the future is not set in stone until it manifests itself as the present and then becomes a fixed past. Science has no way of explaining these tenses of time, units of time are used in the mathematics of most of the sciences, but it doesn’t differentiate time as past, present and future.

So does time even exist? I mean of course it exists in the sense that time passes and things move, change and happen. But does time exist, in the physical sense. Is there an invisible time-line that exists that we have no way to observe. Some refer to time as the fourth dimension, it is a dimension of existence that we have no physical ability to observe except in the form of the present.

If time does exist and we just cannot see it what form does it take? Lets look at some of the possibilities and how they might relate to the possibility of time travel.

Time is a straight line

Time is a single continuous streaming line that exists in the form of past, present and future. There are two ways to look at the straight line theory when talking about time travel, the difference between them is whether the future already exists or is it constantly being created at the speed of which the present is happening.

This theory of time presents major problems for time travel. In either version the past is fixed so time travel backward may be possible. If the future is only created at the speed of the present you cannot travel to the future for it does not yet exist. If the future has already been set and currently exists you can travel to the future as well. BUT, if all time already exists and is written on a single continuous line you cannot travel back or forward and hope to interact with anything in a different time than the present because that creates a paradox that undoes what is already written. If you write a sentence in ink on paper you cannot erase or change what has already been written. If you were to physically travel to a point on the timeline it would have already had to have happened for it to be possible.

The best we could hope for in this theory is that you find a way to observe the past without interaction,  which would only really be novel if the future is not yet written, because we can actually control our destinies with the knowledge acquired from observing the past. If the future is already written we will only be able to do what we are predestined to do.

If we theorize this single timeline can be rewritten, we can visualize a how this might work. Upon time travelling you reenter the timeline at a point in the past effectively bending the line and making a loop. But because time only exists as a single timeline all time between the time travel event and the point you travel to immediately cease existence. Basically at the moment of time travel the past moment becomes the present and the present you formally existed in will disappear, making the time travel event its own world ending paradox with the lone survivor(s) being the time traveller(s).

Ti isme many worlds

In this theory we allow the possibility of time travel because time exists in a straight line with branching paths. Time branches are created when time travel happens. Basically time exists as a single straight line just as in the last example, except at every event there are branching timelines, both are real and exist but do not interact. A famous example of this is the thought experiment Schrodinger's Cat. In the thought experiment we imagine there is a cat in a closed box, and we do not know if the cat is alive or dead. Because both possibilities exist the cat is both alive and dead. These realities represent branching paths, they exist simultaneously but they do not interact with each other.

In this model time travel creates a new path off of the time period you travel to.

Time is infinite simultaneous timelines

In this model if I haven’t already given you a migraine you will get one now. Time exists as infinite timelines, infinite outcomes and possibilities exist simultaneously. Because infinite outcomes exist time is already written but we choose the timeline we exist in in every present moment. Because every present moment preceeds a possible new or different future. Because of this true time travel is impossible, you never really travel in time but the present reality reflects a change in the time period in which you perceptually exist but in reality it is just an alternate present that exists in one of the infinite realities that exists.

Feel free to comment, the theory of time and time travel can be taken in so many directions and creates so many paradoxes i find it a fun puzzle to work out, imagining how it could all work and poking holes in each others theories is part of the fun.

Fate, Destiny, and Predestination

I was listening to an episode of the podcast Radiolab today on the way to work and one of the stories involved the mysterious properties of a slinky and the way it falls, seemingly defying gravity. Here's a video example to more clearly explain this:

I was listening to an episode of the podcast Radiolab today on the way to work and one of the stories involved the mysterious properties of a slinky and the way it falls, seemingly defying gravity. Above is a video to show what I'm talking about.

In the video you can see that the bottom of the slinky kind of floats in midair until the top of the slinky meets with the bottom and the whole thing then drops out of the air. Basically this actually happens with every kind of object but usually happens so fast you cannot see it. It is more pronounced in a slinky because of the amount of matter joined together is very long. 

All matter in the universe operates in this way, there are delays between molecules and one molecule doesn't know to react to another attached molecule until the molecules reach each other. If you drop a rock in a lake the ripples in the water travel outward in waves, and the water doesn't know to react until the wave of motion reaches it. The same is happening to the slinky, the bottom rung of the slinky doesn't know you have dropped it until the top of the slinky reaches the bottom.

The longer the distance that is traveled the more pronounced these delays become, Neil DeGrasse Tyson made an interesting point, if the sun were to just disappear in an instant, on earth life would go on like normal and you would never know anything had changed... until a little over 8 minutes later. Because of our distance from the sun the light and heat radiating from it takes time to reach us and until the last light and heat waves have reached us it will seem as if nothing has changed.

So what does this have to do with your blog post title?

Well, what if everything has already happened. What if we have no control of our own matter because we are effectively the top rung of a giant slinky if you will and lets say the bottom rung of the slinky is our end or death. The bottom rung of the slinky and everything above it already exists and we are just falling to the bottom. 

Do we really control the trajectory of our lives or has the book already been written and we just have yet to reach the end?

If we can see the past in the stars but the future exists and we can't see it because of the delay created by our distance from cosmic bodies? If all time exists simultaneously in the universe but we can only perceive the time waves that have reached us currently then our future may have already been written at the beginning of time.

I am 30 and I am just starting to figure out what I want to do with my life.

When you are a kid there is one question that adults ask you quite often. 

What do you want to do when you grow up? 

Depending on your age and your interests or what your parents try to influence you toward you probably always had an answer until about sophomore year of high school. See, before you were encouraged to dream big, you could be a scientist, an astronaut, or even The President of the United States of America! But in high school you stop seeing the world through rose colored glasses, also this is when people expect you to start making decisions for the future. 

Are you going to go to college? What schools are you going to apply for? What do you want to major in? What do you want to do with your life? 

After so many years of your life where every decision is made for you, you have a say in what you want. It is the most terrifying thing to happen to you. What happens if you choose incorrectly, or if you just have no idea? Everyone expects you to figure it out because in a couple more years you are supposed to be moving on to adulthood.

The problem is, you are still a kid, and you really can't even imagine what life will be like in 5, 10 or 20 years from when you are in high school. 

So many people I know have gone to college right out of high school and the vast majority of them have degrees that have nothing to do with what they are currently doing for work. In other words they were expected to choose a career path and they did, and it wasn't the right one for them. Through trial and error they found something better, or maybe they chose a career that has very low job availability.

What do you want to be when you grow up is a bullshit question, because we need time and experiences to shape our paths and choices. Its time to stop putting so much pressure on teen boys and girls to make a decision and stick with it because that's not how life works. 

It took me many years of school and work and general life experience to figure out a path that I am happy with, and I have real long term goals for myself. I am 30 years old, and haven't been considered a kid for a long time. It took me a while, and I'm ok with it. So don't feel bad if you haven't figured out what you wanna do for the rest of your life, you will eventually.

The Inaugural Nickfacts Film Awards

Tonight was Oscar night, it was great fun, we made out our ballots watched it on TV. The Problem with the Oscars is they pick the wrong winners. A real awards show would agree with and validate my personal picks. So if the Oscars won't change the voting to include me and only me as the vote decider I will make my own awards up! Also the categories will be what I think is important!

Welcome to the Inaugural Nickfacts Film Awards!

Best Makeup

Foxcatcher

When I first saw the trailer for this film I did not know this was Steve Carell until the credits at the end of the trailer. The make-up is that good.

Best Animated Film

The Lego Movie

This was the best animated movie of the year! Sure it was a feature length commercial! SO WHAT! It was hilarious, had an amazing voice cast, was animated so realistically that I thought it was actually a stop motion Lego fan film at some points. The soundtrack was great, everything about this film was awesome. It was shafted by the Oscars, they got it all wrong.

Best Horror Film

The Babadook

Genre films rarely get love from the academy. The Babadook was a great horror film. Essie Davis gave an awesome performance. The Film is super creepy and the artist that put together the "children's book" that is in the film did an amazing job! Really enjoyed this film and it deserves to be recognized.

Best Comic Book Movie

Guardians of the Galaxy

Comic book movies have been a hot commodity for a number of years now. Of course many of them are highly entertaining but I don't think they deserve best picture of the year status. The academy agrees with me, but instead of creating a category to honor the best one of the bunch (nowadays we get many comic and graphic novel adaptations per year) they either ignore these films completely or they give em the table scraps by nominating them for special effects and other technical awards. This year Guardians of the Galaxy was the cream of the crop when it comes to comic book films. It had comedy, action, and heart. I really enjoyed this film, honestly this category is here because I wanted to mention this film.

Best Wes Anderson Movie

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Hands down the best Wes Anderson film of the year!

Best Science Fiction Movie

Interstellar

I have so much love for this movie! It was awesome! Great cast! Great Soundtrack! And Real Science! Christopher Nolan can do no wrong for me, he is a phenomenal film maker and delivers solid films! Matthew McConaughey is in the middle of the greatest stretch of roles in his career, I hope he keeps it up!

Best Soundtrack

Interstellar

Did I mention how awesome Hans Zimmer's Soundtrack to this film is? Simply Amazing.

Best Post-Apocalyptic World Movie

Snowpiercer

Imagine a world that has fallen into an ice age that can support no human life. The Only surviving humans are on an impenetrable high speed train that circles the globe and has all the means of supporting said humans. Also there is a huge gap between the have's and the have-nots, and the have-nots get to spend their life in a dingy cramped car at the back of the train getting shit on by the wealthy. And the poor decide to rise up against this terrible class system that is enforced by Tilda Swinton dressed as a man. That is Snowpiercer. It is great! 

Best Movie Starring Jake Gyllenhaal

Nightcrawler

 So I'm not the hugest Jake Gyllenhaal fan, but this movie was soooooooo good! He is so good in it. It also makes you feel kinda gross for liking it because Jake plays such a despicable human being that will go to any length to meet his goals. This is not a feel good movie, but it is a great film!

Best Movie that will make you rethink getting married

Gone Girl

I love my wife and am happily married. That being said, a film like Gone Girl really makes you wonder if you aren't just better off being single. Please don't watch this on a date unless you don't want it to work out with your significant other. Also Single guys, I don't recommend this one to you, you might just decide to be single forever. Some of you already have without seeing this movie, in that case enjoy, its a really fun movie!

Best Actor

Michael Keaton

Eddie Redmayne can kick rocks, Michael Keaton should've won!

Best Actress

Rosamund Pike

Rosamund Pike was great in gone girl! I don't know if she's a good actress or just a really manipulative woman playing herself. The fact that I can't tell is why she is the winner. 

Best Supporting Actor 

Edward Norton

I have a confession, I didn't get to see whiplash yet. It only showed for one week in my city and I was out of town on vacation. So maybe JK Simmons was the best in this category but I can't be sure. Edward Norton was incredible in Birdman though so he wins this one!

Best Supporting Actress

David Bowie

Tilda Swinton

David Bowie Tilda Swinton is awesome and she got no Oscar love even though she had 3 great roles in the past year! The first one was Snowpiercer, the second was The Grand Budapest Hotel and the third (which I have yet to see but looks great) is Only Lovers left alive (not pictured). She was great in the two I saw and is just an all around amazing actress to watch. 

Best Director

Wes Anderson

Wes Anderson is one of my all time favorite filmmakers. He has many great movies and The Grand Budapest Hotel is an amazing film. The reason why I gave him best director though is because even though this is a very Wes Anderson style movie, he has finally found a way to make a film with characters that actually feel like real people instead of quirky caricatures. The dialog is still sharp and funny, it is shot beautifully, but he finally has found a way to make a film that has human emotion. It is a great film, and he has really grown as a director. 

Best of the Best

Birdman

 As you can tell from my categories I had quite a few films I really loved this year, but Birdman was at the top of the heap! It was just an all around great movie. A great comeback for Michael Keaton. The supporting cast was great, Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Emma Stone all gave great performances. The soundtrack was really awesome. The story was surreal, funny, shocking and moving all at once. This was just an all around great movie, and my pick for the best of the year. 

The Mountain

Since I just received my copy of Game of Thrones Season 4 on bluray today I thought I would post about one of the most despicable characters from the show. A man they call "The Mountain Who Rides" or just for simplicity's sake "The Mountain", AKA Gregor Clegane.

In past seasons we have heard of his terrible deeds, he burned his brothers face in the fireplace when they were young boys. He murdered the queen Elia Martell and her two children in the sacking of King's Landing that won King Robert his crown. He has Decapitated his own horse in a rage after losing a joust. He led an army to destroy the Riverlands, leaving only death and destruction in his wake. He is the most feared of all the knights in Westeros.

And now in the most recent season to be released on bluray, he has killed Prince Oberyn Martell in single combat who was trying to avenge his sister (the before mentioned Elia Martell and her children). During the fight he kept asking The Mountain to admit to what was rumored he did to Oberyn's sister and children. When Oberyn thinks he has won after injuring The Mountain, Clegane grabs Oberyn, throws him on the ground, climbing on top of him and grabbing Oberyn's head between his hands he finally admits, "Elia Martell! I killed her children. Then I raped her. Then I smashed her head in. LIKE THIS!". Yep he crushes Oberyn's skull with his bare hands, that is just the sort of man The Mountain is.

Now let's talk about the actor, a real life mountain of a man! First of all his name is Hafpor Bjornsson, how cool is that! In his other job he is a competitive strongman! Here is a video:

That is just insane! He is currently considered the world's second strongest man! This guy just might be scarier in real life than in the show! Ok maybe not, hafpor actually seems like a pretty good guy in most of his interviews, but the guy could definitely be referred to as "The Mountain" in real life. He consumes about 10,000 calories a day when he's training! That's almost as much as a normal person should eat in a week! The guy is also just a hair under 7 feet tall, here is a picture with him standing next to Cersei Lannister actress Lena Heady:

The guy astounds me, what more can I say! I look forward to seeing more of Hafpor as The Mountain in the upcoming season 5, it will be interesting to see what becomes of his character after being poisoned and wounded in the Oberyn fight.

The new bed!

This is more a status update than a blog post...

Our new bed has arrived!

It is awesome!

Even though I embarrassed the crap out of my wife she is letting me sleep on the bed!

No couch for me!

THAT IS ALL! I SAID GOOD DAY!