Robert A. Black, Mathematical Storyteller

The Thomas Fire is finally coming to an end, but not before it grew into the largest wildfire in modern California history. I personally was never in any danger, but the smoke was pretty bad for two full weeks, even forcing us to close the factory area in day-job land once or twice and send people home. All through that time, I kept an eye on the fire's progress as it moved through the Ojai Valley. Thankfully, the city of Ojai itself was spared, but the trails I hiked through last spring weren't so fortunate. I knew they were hit hard, and yesterday I drove out there to do some scouting, to see just how bad it was. There's a lookout point along Highway 150, where you can stop and gaze across the entire Topatopa range. A plaque points out all the peaks and canyons, including the ones I visited. All of them are thoroughly blackened now. Here's what the three spots looked like, with links to my old posts if you'd like to see what they looked like before.

During the years I spent trying (and failing) to be an Evangelical, I found a lot of stuff written about "The End Times," and the coming of the Antichrist. Everyone had a different idea about who the Antichrist was, where he would appear, and so on, but there's one thing everyone felt pretty confident about. The "real" Christians (assuming they hadn't all been carried away by the Rapture) would know who the Antichrist was. The Antichrist wouldn't be able to fool a "real" Christian - which is to say, of course, an Evangelical. So it strikes me as sadly ironic that the most anti-Christian figure we've seen in generations of American politics is so adored by the white Evangelical community. Note that I'm not saying Trump is the Antichrist. The Book of Revelation is a tricky thing, so I'm not even sure there will ever actually be someone who is the Antichrist. But Trump is close enough, if not because of his own moral bankr

This morning, I had to invoke some extreme self-discipline. That is to say, I didn't let myself turn on my computer until I'd addressed all my Christmas cards. That was the last thing I had to do for the traditional, American Christmas. And despite the grumbling I do about it, I'm really not against that part of the holiday, provided I can keep it from getting too commercialized. But Thanksgiving is my big social holiday. By mid-December, my social capacity is reaching its limit, and I'm ready for a more inward-looking holiday. So, of course that means I go to Pasadena and sing with forty other people in front of a congregation several hundred strong, right? Yes, that's true, but despite being in the midst of all those people, it's still a very personal experience. What I wrote about it last year did a good job of capturing the mood. This year, it's our first major holiday since James Walker left as our Music Director, which is an even bigger

To tell you the truth, when the first sexual harassment claim against Al Franken came out, I was surprised that it was the only one. Not that I think Al Franken is a bad guy, which I don't, but because of where he came from. The type of shenanigans he was being accused of (and photographed doing, in at least one instance) fit perfectly with the brand of humor he wrote on Saturday Night Live , and that brand was what made him a success. It was his livelihood for a long time, a part of his public persona. Of course he did stuff like that. However ... That doesn't let him off the hook. Yes, there have been complaints already about Franken paying the penalty while Donald Trump and Roy Moore are still around. That's not important, unless you agree with Republicans that having power is more important, even if it means you have to follow your leaders into the sewer. I thought Franken was doing a great job as a senator, but that just makes his resignation a tragedy, no

Thanks to that massive Chinese hoax the rest of the world knows as "climate change," we here in Southern California now face the risk of massive wildfires pretty much all year round. And at the moment, we're being hit harder than we have in years. I don't know what the TV networks are showing, but I suspect that today at least, the fire getting everyone's attention is the one burning in the Sepulveda Pass, because it's near the Getty Center and all the expensive homes. But that's actually the smallest of the major fires burning. The one here in Ventura County, with smoke seeping through the office windows near me even as I type, is much bigger and has done more damage. The weather is what got these fires going, and it's also what makes them so hard to put out. Yesterday, the wind was blowing too hard for water-dropping airplanes and helicopters to fly, so the ground crews had to make do on their own. If that keeps up, they may have no choic