Supi Udupi

After the movie, we visited Udupi Indian Restaurant on Sunrise: http://www.vegguide.org/entry/3814. I ordered the deluxe dinner, which had a smattering of everything. Minimalistic interior, but outstanding staff and a wonderful feast.

Flight of the Red Balloon

I enjoyed the long takes of this film--some as long as eight minutes. All dialogue's improvised. So much of the movie takes place within Suzanne's (Juliette Binoche) apartment that by the end I felt very much at home there--it's a cozy, bohemian Parisian loft, with an abundance of books and scattered items. When Simon went to "have a go" on his Playstation, I wanted to know what game he played. The poster on the back of the door advertised "La Ballade de la Mister Punch", a tribute to the Punch and Judy puppet show. The movie seems as though it's from Song Fang's perspective--unjudging, attentive, thoughtful, cozy. Song adapts and becomes the calm in the middle of deteriorating relationships--Marc, the downstairs tenant, who hasn't paid rent in over a year; and Pierre, Simon and Louise's father who has abandoned his family to live in Montreal. The ending comes abruptly, amidst a teacher discussion in the Musée d’Orsay over Félix Vallotton’s 1899 painting of a child chasing a red ball, "Le Ballon." The movie fades away with the song "Tchin Tchin" (French for "cheers") by singer Camille. The movie also seems like it might document the view from Simon's perspective--adrift as he floats between school, home, the cafe where he plays pinball, and piano lessons. The home becomes a womb, but without Suzanne, it also seems somewhat empty. Suzanne comes and goes freely, in her words, "making everyone happy." The end of the film seems to document how much Simon's needs aren't getting met--Louise chooses to stay in Brussels to care for her great-grandfather, leaving Simon visibly upset (sleeping with his bear). Song, as the nanny, checks in to let him know she cares, but respects his grieving and lets him rest. Suzanne, slowly but successfully restoring order to the chaos left by Pierre's departure two years earlier, struggles to keep the threads of her family together. As I mentioned, the ending comes abruptly, leaving me wanting to see more--what happens next? The chemistry seems right for thsi family though--I suspect they turn out all right, between Suzanne's passion and Song's presence.

Even though we ate before watching this movie, I felt incredibly hungry watching it. Watching Song learn to make crepes, or Suzanne offer a biscuit, or Marc prepare vegetables, or a poured glass of wine--I couldn't wait to eat.

From left to right: ? (Chinese professor), Song Fang (Song), Louise Margolin (Louise), Juliette Binoche (Suzanne), Simon Iteanu (Simon), and Hippolyte Girardot (Marc).


New York Times review.
Village Voice review.

Below: I guess this is how they did it. I imagined elaborate wind machines, fishing line, and so forth.

Fire

The sun looked like this on the way home:


(note: not my pic, and not a pic of Sacramento)

Living in California's Central Valley means smoke from fires flows down into the "bowl" where we live from the foothills to the east, west, and north.

A few years ago, the fires produced enough ash that it looked like a light snow dusting for 24 hours.

A co-worker told me yesterday that about eight years ago, she saw the wind creating billows of smoke.

I can't smell the smoke unless I drive with the window down.

Nothing threatening or scary--a relatively minor side-effect of living in one of the safest places on earth (no hurricanes, no tsunamis, no earthquakes, minor chance of floods, no tornadoes, no snowfalls, and so forth).

Radio Songs

Heard:

Franklin, Tennessee-based Paramore's "Misery Business" from their 2007 album "Riot!" on the Fueled By Ramen label.

Garry Schyman's "Praan" from the "Where the Hell is Matt?" video: http://www.vimeo.com/1211060

I also have a new radio station that I'm listening to in tandem with KYDS (91.5): KDVS, 90.3, out of Davis, CA.

Festuca Idahoensis

Link: http://www.bluestem.ca/festuca-siskiyou-blue.htm

Picnics

Local parks:

1. Arden Park (La Sierra Blvd)
2. McKinley Park (Alhambra & H)
3. William Land Park (Land Park Dr & Freeport Blvd)
4. Maddox Park (Thor & Mission)
5. Howe Park (Howe & Cottage)
6. River Park (Carlson, across from Sac State)
7. Arden Bar at the American River (End of Arden Way, East of Fair Oaks Blvd)

Radio Songs

El Paso, TX-based Sparta's "Collapse" from their 2002 album "Wiretap Scars" on the Geffen Records label.

Lubbock, TX-native Joe Ely's "Slow You Down" from his 1993 album "Love and Danger" on the MCA Records label. From the May 31 recording of A Prairie Home Companion in Las Cruces, NM.

Homework, Sections 5.1 through 5.3

My solutions to the 2nd edition Dragon Book's Exercises for chapter five:

5.1.1 a, b, c: Investigating GraphViz as a solution to presenting trees

5.1.2: Extend the SDD of Fig. 5.4 to handle expressions as in Fig. 5.1:

1. L -> E N
1. L.val = E.syn
   
2. E -> F E'
1. E.syn = E'.syn
2. E'.inh = F.val
   
3. E' -> + T Esubone'
1. Esubone'.inh = E'.inh + T.syn
2. E'.syn = Esubone'.syn
   
4. T -> F T'
1. T'.inh = F.val
2. T.syn = T'.syn
   
5. T' -> * F Tsubone'
1. Tsubone'.inh = T'.inh * F.val
2. T'.syn = Tsubone'.syn
   
6. T' -> epsilon
1. T'.syn = T'.inh
   
7. E' -> epsilon
1. E'.syn = E'.inh
   
8. F -> digit
1. F.val = digit.lexval
   
9. F -> ( E )
1. F.val = E.syn
   
10. E -> T
1. E.syn = T.syn

5.1.3 a, b, c: Investigating GraphViz as a solution to presenting trees

5.2.1: What are all the topological sorts for the dependency graph of Fig. 5.7?

1. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
2. 1, 2, 3, 5, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9
3. 1, 2, 4, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
   
4. 1, 3, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
   
5. 1, 3, 2, 5, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9
   
6. 1, 3, 5, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9
   
7. 2, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
   
8. 2, 1, 3, 5, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9
   
9. 2, 1, 4, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
   
10. 2, 4, 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

5.2.2 a, b: Investigating GraphViz as a solution to presenting trees

5.2.3: Suppose that we have a production A -> BCD. Each of the four nonterminals A, B, C, and D have two attributes: s is a synthesized attribute, and i is an inherited attribute. For each of the sets of rules below, tell whether (1) the rules are consistent with an S-attributed definition (2) the rules are consistent with an L-attributed definition, and (3) whether the rules are consistent with any evaluation order at all?

a) A.s = B.i + C.s

1. No--contains inherited attribute
2. Yes--"From above or from the left"
3. Yes--L-attributed so no cycles

b) A.s = B.i + C.s and D.i = A.i + B.s

1. No--contains inherited attributes
2. Yes--"From above or from the left"
3. Yes--L-attributed so no cycles

c) A.s = B.s + D.s

1. Yes--all attributes synthesized
2. Yes--all attributes synthesized
3. Yes--S- and L-attributed, so no cycles

d)

• A.s = D.i
• B.i = A.s + C.s
• C.i = B.s
• D.i = B.i + C.i

1. No--contains inherited attributes
2. No--B.i uses A.s, which depends on D.i, which depends on B.i (cycle)
3. No--Cycle implies no topological sorts (evaluation orders) using the rules

5.2.4: This grammar generates binary numbers with a "decimal" point:

1. S -> L . L | L
2. L -> L B | B
3. B -> 0 | 1

Design an L-attributed SDD to compute S.val, the decimal-number value of an input string. For example, the translation of string 101.101 should be the decimal number 5.625. Hint: use an inherited attribute L.side that tells which side of the decimal point a bit is on.

1. S -> L . Lsubone
1. L.inh = 0
2. Lsubone.inh = -1
3. S.val = L.syn + Lsubone.syn
2. S -> L
1. L.inh = 0
2. S.val = L.syn
3. L -> Lsubone B
1. Lsubone.inh = L.inh + 1
2. B.inh = L.inh
3. L.syn = Lsubone.syn * B.syn
4. L -> B
1. L.syn = B.syn * 2^L.inh
5. B -> 0 | 1
1. B.syn = digit.lexval

5.2.5: Design an S-attributed SDD for the grammar and translation described in 5.2.4.

1. S -> L . Lsubone
1. S.val = L.lhs + Lsubone.rhs
   
2. S -> L
1. S.val = L.lhs
3. L -> Lsubone B
1. L.lhs = Lsubone.lhs + (2^L.lhs_exponent * B.val)
2. L.rhs = Lsubone.rhs + (2^L.rhs_exponent * B.val)
3. L.lhs_exponent = Lsubone.lhs_exponent + 1
4. L.rhs_exponent = Lsubone.rhs_exponent - 1
   
4. L -> B
1. L.lhs = 2^L.lhs_exponent * B.val
2. L.rhs = 2^L.rhs_exponent * B.val
3. L.lhs_exponent = 0
4. L.rhs_exponent = -1
   
5. B -> 0 | 1
1. B.val = digit.lexval

5.2.6: Link: http://schultkl.blogspot.com/2008/05/solution-to-dragon-book-second-edition.html

5.3.1: Below is a grammar for expressions involving operator + and integer or floating-point operands. Floating-point numbers are distinguished by having a decimal point.

1. E -> E + T | T
2. T -> num . num | num

a) Give an SDD to determine the type of each term T and expression E.

1. E -> Esubone + T
1. E.type = if (E.type == float || T.type == float) { E.type = float } else { E.type = integer }
2. E -> T
1. E.type = T.type
3. T -> numsubone . numsubtwo
1. T.type = float
4. T -> num
1. T.type = integer

b) Extend your SDD of (a) to translate expressions into postfix notation. Use the binary operator intToFloat to turn an integer into an equivalent float. Note: I use character ',' to separate floating point numbers in the resulting postfix notation. Also, the symbol "||" implies concatenation.

1. E -> Esubone + T
1. E.val = Esubone.val || ',' || T.val || '+'
2. E -> T
1. E.val = T.val
   
3. T -> numsubone . numsubtwo
   
1. T.val = numsubone.val || '.' || numsubtwo.val
   
4. T -> num
1. T.val = intToFloat(num.val)

5.3.2 Give an SDD to translate infix expressions with + and * into equivalent expressions without redundant parenthesis. For example, since both operators associate from the left, and * takes precedence over +, ((a*(b+c))*(d)) translates into a*(b+c)*d. Note: symbol "||" implies concatenation.

1. S -> E
1. E.iop = nil
2. S.equation = E.equation
2. E -> Esubone + T
1. Esubone.iop = E.iop
2. T.iop = E.iop
3. E.equation = Esubone.equation || '+' || T.equation
4. E.sop = '+'
3. E -> T
1. T.iop = E.iop
2. E.equation = T.equation
3. E.sop = T.sop
4. T -> Tsubone * F
1. Tsubone.iop = '*'
2. F.iop = '*'
3. T.equation = Tsubone.equation || '*' || F.equation
4. T.sop = '*'
5. T -> F
1. F.iop = T.iop
2. T.equation = F.equation
3. T.sop = F.sop
6. F -> char
   
1. F.equation = char.lexval
2. F.sop = nil
7. F -> ( E )
1. if (F.iop == '*' && E.sop == '+') { F.equation = '(' || E.equation || ')' } else { F.equation = E.equation }
2. F.sop = nil
   

5.3.3: Give an SDD to differentiate expressions such as x * (3*x + x * x) involving the operators + and *, the variable x, and constants. Assume that no simplification occurs, so that, for example, 3*x will be translated into 3*1 + 0*x. Note: symbol "||" implies concatenation. Also, differentiation(x*y) = (x * differentiation(y) + differentiation(x) * y) and differentiation(x+y) = differentiation(x) + differentiation(y).

1. S -> E
1. S.d = E.d
2. E -> T
1. E.d = T.d
2. E.val = T.val
3. T -> F
1. T.d = F.d
2. T.val = F.val
4. T -> Tsubone * F
1. T.d = '(' || Tsubone.val || ") * (" || F.d || ") + (" || Tsubone.d || ") * (" || F.val || ')'
2. T.val = Tsubone.val || '*' || F.val
5. E -> Esubone + T
1. E.d = '(' || Esubone.d || ") + (" || T.d || ')'
2. E.val = Esubone.val || '+' || T.val
6. F -> ( E )
1. F.d = E.d
2. F.val = '(' || E.val || ')'
7. F -> char
   
1. F.d = 1
2. F.val = char.lexval
8. F -> constant
1. F.d = 0
2. F.val = constant.lexval

Tacos Are Good

For Dawn--seen on the light rail home this afternoon. Available at Hot Topic.

Turning the Wrong Way

I thought the nut on the p-trap under our bathroom sink turned lefty-loosey but it turns out it turns righty-loosey. How easy it is to turn when one goes in the right direction.

In other news, I've determined that the ceiling fans in our duplex (A Hunter model #21416 and a KDK model #D13YU) lack a hole made for oiling. The new Hunter fan makes a rhythmic ticking noise after about a day or so of high-speed operation, while the older KDK fan makes the same rhythmic ticking noise more consistently. My first thought--oil the bearings, per: http://www.ceiling-fans-n-more.com/ceiling-fan-oiling.php. Unfortunately, the manufacturer did not intend for customers to oil these fans, so I'm going to need some creativity to do so. It might also be a balancing issue...so who knows if I'll have time to figure it out in the coming weeks.