Dead Red Conversations (Part 1)

For those of you who haven't met her yet, Dead Red is our beloved van. Not only is she our bumpy form of transportation, but she is also our office, nap room, feeding place, reading space, sleeping place, and even practice space sometimes! (Ask Dan how he plays bass in the van...)

Here is a picture of us standing next to Dead Red last summer. We were at a fancy country club when she started falling apart a little...

As a band, of course we play shows together and practice together, record, fly on airplanes, we sweat together, we eat together, we have visited probably over half of the Kwik Trips in Wisconsin together, we often sleep on couches next to each other, eat with each other, and so on so forth!

And in Dead Red, we have many, many different types of conversations together.

So I have decided to start a new series entitled "Dead Red Conversations." I wouldn't mind this blog being a little more interactive, so I really encourage you to comment. You don't need a username or anything to do so, but I would appreciate if you say who you are and where you're from.


Topic 1- Quantum Physics
Okay- not as genius as it sounds, but I came up with the idea for the posts after talking about Schrodinger's Cat on the way to one of our shows. Here is a youtube video that illustrates Schrodinger's Cat:

In school my favorite subject was never science- always English. In fact, I really struggled in science and math classes. Over the last year or so, however, I've become really curious and interested in science- especially quantum physics. As I understand it, quantum physics is the study of things on a very, very small level (atoms and particles and so on..) And partly what's incredible about this is that the laws of science are completely different on this level! Things happen that are quite simply phenomenal and mind-boggling.

I am tempted to try to describe, but I should probably be the last person to describe quantum physics to anyone. Maybe if enough people ask Pete to give some input he'll do so :) Our van conversation started off with him describing an experiment he did in college in which he dressed up like Marty McFly from Back to the Future.

Now that I look, Pete does resemble a young Michael J. Fox. We should get him a hoverboard... 

To wrap this up, here are some great sources that have helped a beginner like me with quantum physics:

1. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. Marty (I mean Pete) and I both really like this book. 

2. Anything by or about Stephen Hawking

3. The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality- by the Dalai Lama.This one... I'm working on right now. 

4. Basics of Quantum Mechanics for Dummies - I referenced this blog while writing this post.
5. Cosmos- the show.




What do you think about Quantum Mechanics? Make sure to comment with any thoughts and stay tuned for at least another post or two on Dead Red Conversations!