Delicious Dishes (one-reeler)

Delicious Dishes is a film short that was uploaded to the Prelinger Archives in 2003. If you're a watcher of TCM (Turner Classic Movies), you may have — as I recently did — viewed it there. There is precious little real information about the one-reeler on the internet and at least one person (Tony Bensley) was struggling with misinformation. So I decided to have a look.

The first thing that I found was that the film is listed in Graham Webb's 2020 Encyclopedia of American Short Films, 1926-1959: Delicious Dishes: How to Make Them (copyright 24 March 1933, M & M Distributing Co.). The Library of Congress (Copyright Office) has an entry in its 1933 Catalog of Copyright Entries - Part 1 (p. 159) which locates the incorporated company in Asbury Park NJ. Good start! I have a distributor name/place and a very specific date.

I subsequently found Tony Bensley's reply on the YouTube version of the film noting that an Arnold Morris (often incorrectly assigned as the individual in the short) appeared on Late Night with David Letterman on 4 March 1987 and that Arnold mentions (starting @1:12) his father being in the same business as himself. Time to put on my genealogy hat and do some Morris family research.

The April 1930 Asbury Park NJ census has them at 703 Comstock St.:

Arnold's father is Nathan Morris. Nathan's occupation is given as "auctioneer" (of jewelry).

The April 1940 Asbury Park NJ census has them at 1106 Monroe Ave.:

Nathan's occupation is now "kitchen gadgets" (manufacturing).

Nathan K. Morris (24 July 1901 – 29 July 1972) must be the pitchman in the film. Subsequent research found Malcolm Gladwell's 30 October 2000 article about Ron Popeil, The Pitchman, written for The New Yorker. Gladwell suggests that Nathan "partnered with his brother Al ..." That's it! The partnership must have been incorporated as M & M (i.e., Morris & Morris), the distributing company of the film.

There is a 1930 Asbury Park NJ census "Al" at 710 1st Ave.:

... but he was "Abe" in the Atlantic City NJ census in 1940:

Nathan's slightly-older brother's name was actually Abraham. So, was Gladwell wrong about Nathan's brother's name? Initially I thought so, construing a 1930 mistranscription of Abe into Al. However, searching for Nathan Morris in "The Billboard", I soon found this mention of his brother "Al":

27 March 1943: click to enlarge

Al could be Abe's middle name! I finally clued in after seeing a Billboard short (29 May 1943) on Nat's son, Lester, being in the army, as were "Archie and Rube Morris, sons of Al Morris". Presumably, middle names for Leonard and Edward. I think they were very comfortable with using different names, formally or informally, as the social situation may have demanded. By the way, I've been unable to find Nathan's middle name, but I will point out that there was a 1900 New Jersey Legislature assembly bill (No. 315) entitled "An act to change the name of Morris Kederisky and family to 'Kidders Morris' ...". Kidders was of course Nathan's father. A Geni entry has the surname spelled "Kadaretzky". It is not clear to me how or why "Kidders" morphed into "Kidder" but it seems haphazard. A 1901 New Jersey birth index record has a "Kidder" Morris but the 1905 census has "Keddres". A 1908 accident on a railroad train and the 1910 census has him as "Kidder".

5 July 1947: click to enlarge

5 November 1950: click to enlarge

N.K. Morris Mfg. Co. advert in The Billboard, 30 June 1951

N.K. Morris Mfg. Co. advert in The Billboard, 7 April 1956

A million-digit Leyland prime (spot check)

As expected, one of my slower processes has rediscovered (this afternoon) Gabor Levai's 1000027-digit Leyland prime. I thought that it might be a good time to see how far I've come. It seems that I've completed about 49% of the numbers that I wanted to test since I started 132 days ago, so, on average, I'm testing about 220 numbers per day. It means that, at best, I'll be done by February 2023 but a lot depends on my transferring processes from my three slow computers to others as they become available.

I had installed differing operating systems on those machines to see what would happen. I saw no improvement. So I'm thinking now that the slow speed arises from the fact that these three Mac minis were purchased (in order to save money) with only 8 GB RAM, which may be insufficient for the task at hand (it had been adequate for testing 300000-digit numbers). I will now terminate three of the six processes on each machine to see if there is any speed improvement on the remaining three processes. Later this month I will have completed 14 processes on two other machines, which allows me to transfer the 9 terminated processes.

A million-digit Leyland prime (power interruption)

This morning, a 23-minute power interruption allowed a couple of Toronto Hydro employees to do some maintenance work on a close-to-my-home transformer. I have all 18 computers (104 processes currently working on my million-digit Leyland prime search) on battery back-up units but the amount of time here was just long enough to shut down seven of them (39 processes). Another 5 to 10 minutes might have killed them all.

By early afternoon I had saved the output of the interrupted programs and reinitialized their new search ranges. Three of the seven affected computers were the ones that were taking 18.5 hours per candidate in my May 27 reality check, so I installed new (differing) operating systems on those machines, hoping for a speed improvement. I won't know for a couple of days if that will pan out.

The tooth abscess

Back on April 20, I developed a terrible toothache that came to be associated with a swollen lower-right jaw. Over the next five days I consumed more Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen pills than likely I had over several decades. On April 25, my dentist (whom I had not seen since December 2019 because of the pandemic) had a look.

He prescribed a seven-day regimen of Amoxicillin. Within 24 hours the situation improved. He also recommended that I see an endodontist, which I did on May 10. The endodontist gave me three options: do nothing, have a certain dead tooth pulled, or let him do a root canal that involved (at least, pending complications) two three-hour sessions. I don't know that I can last one three-hour session. The last time I had a root canal the doctor left me alone for ten or so minutes and I chose that time to have a panic attack! Unfortunately, that set in motion similar feelings of anxiety, subsequently, every time that I have had my mouth worked on in a dentist's chair.

Mulling over my options, I did nothing over the course of the summer. On July 7, I managed to complicate things by breaking off part of a tooth in the upper-left part of my mouth. As annoying as this was, I did not see my dentist about it. Around August 20, I noted that the area around my dead tooth was getting reinfected. Salt-water rinses were not helping. Fortunately, this time the formation of the abscess was not accompanied by pain and, by August 22, I felt that my own body was dealing with it and that, perhaps, the worst was over. Nevertheless, I was fearful that my immune system was not capable of conquering the bacterial pathogen and I thought it prudent to see if I could acquire an antibiotic.

Constrained somewhat by my unwillingness to travel any distance, I thought that making an appointment with my family doctor right here in Weston was an option. He could write me a prescription and I could get it filled nearby. But my call to his office on August 23 did not go as planned. The receptionist, upon discovering that my last appointment had been way back in November 2012 (I was as surprised as she was: Had it really been that long?) felt that she needed to ask the doctor if he wanted to engage with me. The next day she left a message with their (apparently new) policy: My family doctor was not taking back patients he hasn't seen in over five years due to being overburdened with Covid. Wow, I managed to not only lose my family doctor, but I'm also responsible for my wife losing her family doctor (same doctor, it has probably been five years since she has seen him)!

On August 25, I decided to give my dentist a call. My wife had suggested that they might be able to have a repeat of my April 25 prescription filled at a local dispensary and I should ask about that. They were busy and I had to leave a message. I gave my name and mentioned my previous appointment with the dentist on April 25 and asked about the possibility of filling a repeat of the prescription that I got then, but locally. I forgot to leave my phone number. There was no reply, so the next morning, Friday, I phoned again. The assistant/receptionist who answered tied my request to the previous day's call by noting that her inability to parse my full name had her calling back someone else for the reply. I provided the local Shoppers Drug Mart address and phone number. She said that she still had contact the dentist about all this but if she didn't get back to me that day, she would get back to me on Monday.

I spent the rest of Friday making my potato/carrot/spinach soup complemented with some lentils, roast-beef gravy, and leftover frozen bits from a long-ago spiral ham. I had several bowlfuls and tried to get some late-afternoon shut-eye. When I came to later that evening, I was feeling much better! The swelling in my gums had receded a little and I had the sense that my immune system was going to be able to handle this after all. Perhaps it was some remnant antibiotic in the ham!

Bucket list #4

My original five-piece bucket list is here.

4. Tim Hortons (I know. How can something so ubiquitous be so difficult to reach.)

1931 Weston Road, this morning (after visiting Shoppers Drug Mart)

Six doughnuts: $6.49

The new backyard residents

The area of our backyard shown in the above has become a focus of activity of late, first by Bodie wading into the growth sniffing out something-or-other, then by the scurrying of some smallish animals (that I took to be mice) into the crevasses of the railway tie that is there (on the right), as well as the corners of the shed (on the far left) which sported some previously undisclosed openings into its underpinnings.

It wasn't just mice. Unperturbed by my presence, this afternoon I spotted a somewhat larger intruder, lazily munching away at some item in the (left) grassy area:

I am wondering now if the opossum that I thought I saw back in June was misidentified.

Wikipedia (reprise)

It has been more than a decade since I last made a Wikipedia edit. Just now I tried again. I changed Michelle Josef's birth year from 1954 to 1953. I have a December 1998 Globe & Mail article describing Josef as "a 45-year-old". And if that isn't substantive enough, I have a 15 March 2012 tweet from Michelle Josef herself saying: "I have been alive 21549 days."

Assuming that Michelle made the tweet on her 59th birthday (i.e., birthday anniversary), this would have her being born on 15 March 1953. How did Michelle arrive at the day count? 59*365 = 21535. Add 15 days for the leap years 1956 to 2012 and we have 21550 days. Why did Michelle calculate one day less? Perhaps she knew that century years (ending in 00) were not leap years and therefore did not count the year 2000 as one. Unfortunately, century years divisible by 400 are exceptions to the century-years rule and 2000 was a leap year. There are of course other possibilities. For example, (2012-1956)/4 = 14, or Michelle tweeted the day before her birthday, or some other scenario.

Sum & erase (integer version)

One of the drawbacks of Éric Angelini's sum-and-erase is that we are dealing with number strings, not integers. This is because we allow leading zeros. There's an easy and obvious fix: Don't allow leading zeros! Everything else is the same but, if the erasure of all instances of a digit (1-9) that is contained in the sum-of-digits moves one or more zeros to the leading (left) edge then those zeros are erased as well. Now the only number that is allowed to start with zero is zero itself. And 0 by itself disappears because it is the left-most digit of 0 and the sum-of-digits is 0. And although total erasure (the empty string "" in Éric's version) happens here as well, we can define it to be zero so as to keep our sequencing in the integer realm. Conveniently in Mathematica, FromDigits[{}] == FromDigits[{0}] == 0.

 0 => "" = 0
 1 => "" = 0
 2 => "" = 0
 3 => "" = 0
 4 => "" = 0
 5 => "" = 0
 6 => "" = 0
 7 => "" = 0
 8 => "" = 0
 9 => "" = 0
100..00 => 0 => "" = 0

Summarizing the procedure:

0. Start with a base-ten nonnegative integer.
1. Total the number's digits and concatenate this sum to the right of the number.
2. If the first digit in our number is one of the digits in our sum, delete every instance of it.
3. If (after deletion) there now appear leading zeros in our number, delete these as well.
4. If all digits or even all non-zero digits have been deleted, the subsequent term is zero.
5. Otherwise, the subsequent term is the concatenation of the remaining digits.
6. To generate a sequence of terms, iterate. Most starts eventually end up at zero.

In Éric's procedure, I had found (in addition to the fixed-point c0) six cycles. In this integer version, I have [index.  name = c&start-string  (cycle length)  {smallest precursor}]:

0.  c0  (1)  {0}

1.  c86  (80858)  {16}

2.  c30323322046333587  (1634)  {5916}

3.  c48822444886224973  (29)  {23675}:

 0 48822444886224973
 1 4882244488622497385
 2 488224448862249738598
 3 488224448862249738598115
 4 488224448862249738598115122
 5 488224448862249738598115122127
 6 488224448862249738598115122127137
 7 882288622973859811512212713718
 8 882288622973859811512212713718137
 9 2262297359115122127137113714
10 226229735911512212713711371497
11 226229735911512212713711371497113
12 226229735911512212713711371497113118
13 6973591151171371137149711311818
14 6973591151171371137149711311818123
15 6973591151171371137149711311818123129
16 6973591151171371137149711311818123129141
17 6973591151171371137149711311818123129141147
18 6973591151171371137149711311818123129141147159
19 6973591151171371137149711311818123129141147159174
20 97359115117137113714971131181812312914114715917418
21 73511511713711371471131181812312141147151741818
22 73511511713711371471131181812312141147151741818153
23 73511511713711371471131181812312141147151741818153162
24 351151113113141131181812312141141514181815316211
25 351151113113141131181812312141141514181815316211124
26 51151111114111181812121411415141818151621112411
27 111111114111181812121411411418181162111241111
28 11111111411118181212141141141818116211124111197
29 48822444886224973

4.  c77078088077807837313303137333430853003033013  (43)  {83123}

5.  c886054637  (140)  {256311}

6.  c5869099118496111114109711  (85)  {346715}

Also six cycles (so far), in order of smallest precursor. I am working on a distance-to-cycle sequence for the OEIS. For positive terms it is the number of steps needed to get to zero. Negative terms are for starts that will reach some other cycle. Terms that are 0 are for integers that are part of a cycle.

Bodie's weight

click to enlarge

The vertical scale is kilograms. Red dots are vet readings. Blue dots are home (bathroom scale) readings. I don't really trust the bathroom scale to be accurate but it will do. We just want to be cognizant of inordinate weight gain. So every two weeks Bodie looks forward to jumping into my arms. Unfortunately, the process also monitors my personal weight gain.

Aerial action

Just beyond my neighbour's yard, a northern mockingbird lets a hawk know it's not welcome.

Don't it always seem to go ...?

It has been a year since I last received delivery of a couple of big bottles of Welch's grape juice. I should have ordered more in the following months! By the time I did, they were out of stock. I can't tell if the supply shortage is temporary or permanent.

Cycles in Éric Angelini's sum-and-erase

Éric's article on sum-and-erase is here. I wanted a place where I could post known cycles, so I will do that in this listing [index.  name = c&start-string  (cycle length)  {precursors}]:

0.  c0  (1)  {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 00, 01, 02, 03, 05, 06, 07, 08, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, ...}

1.  c3374  (583792)  {04, 09, 25, 31, 63, 67, 69, 77, 92, 96, 99, 023, 027, 031, 040, 042, 044, 049, 067, 074, 075, 081, 082, 090, 093, 099, 105, 109, 116, 133, 138, 148, 152, 161, 162, 163, 168, 174, 194, 197, 198, 206, 216, 253, 257, 258, 285, 307, 314, 327, 352, 370, 382, 389, 398, 422, 423, 430, 463, 477, 482, 483, 496, 503, 521, 543, 544, 568, 581, 582, 590, 592, 599, 604, 605, 610, 613, 630, 635, 639, 645, 656, 665, 667, 668, 676, 681, 682, 685, 686, 688, 708, 722, 736, 737, 742, 758, 766, 773, 782, 801, 809, 810, 814, 821, 839, 841, 848, 849, 856, 858, 867, 875, 884, 885, 894, 902, 906, 923, 932, 944, 958, 977, 982, 988, 0119, 0135, 0144, 0147, 0152, 0163, 0166, 0176, 0191, 0199, 0203, 0207, 0216, 0230, 0235, 0244, 0253, 0256, 0259, 0267, 0270, 0275, 0279, 0299, 0301, 0310, 0314, 0317, 0333, 0349, 0361, 0375, 0378, 0385, 0387, 0400, 0402, 0404, 0409, 0420, 0426, 0429, 0440, 0448, 0482, 0484, 0486, 0490, 0498, 0521, 0539, 0559, 0562, 0578, 0592, 0595, 0607, 0619, 0645, 0656, 0658, 0665, 0668, 0670, 0671, 0673, 0686, 0698, 0704, 0705, 0713, 0716, 0735, 0736, 0738, 0740, 0750, 0767, 0768, 0776, 0794, 0801, 0802, 0810, 0813, 0814, 0817, 0819, 0820, 0824, 0829, 0831, 0847, 0855, 0856, 0866, 0867, 0900, 0903, 0909, 0911, 0916, 0919, 0925, 0929, 0930, 0938, 0957, 0958, 0982, 0990, 0991, 0992, 0999, 1005, 1009, 1016, 1019, 1027, 1050, 1056, 1059, 1061, 1062, 1082, 1090, 1091, 1099, 1106, 1109, 1119, 1120, 1163, 1168, 1191, 1192, 1201, 1210, 1222, 1238, 1239, 1250, 1253, 1254, 1264, 1268, 1277, 1285, 1289, 1299, 1307, 1327, 1333, 1335, 1337, 1339, 1352, 1353, 1364, 1365, 1370, 1373, 1376, 1378, 1393, 1396, 1422, 1495, 1520, 1526, 1528, 1530, 1545, 1554, 1557, 1559, 1566, 1575, 1578, 1593, 1595, 1604, 1613, 1618, 1628, 1629, 1630, 1631, 1637, 1648, 1649, 1668, 1679, 1681, 1685, 1686, 1724, 1728, 1729, 1739, 1754, 1760, 1762, 1767, 1776, 1792, 1793, 1794, 1823, 1825, 1832, 1840, 1843, 1853, 1866, 1867, 1894, 1904, 1907, 1908, 1911, 1912, 1921, 1923, 1929, 1933, 1934, 1938, 1970, 1987, 1992, 2006, 2019, 2028, 2047, 2048, 2053, 2058, 2060, 2068, 2074, 2082, 2085, 2091, 2094, 2099, 2109, 2126, 2133, 2134, 2157, 2162, 2163, 2168, 2169, 2173, 2188, 2194, 2208, 2216, 2222, 2230, 2234, 2249, 2254, 2264, 2280, 2291, 2295, 2299, 2302, 2307, 2314, 2320, 2324, 2342, 2344, 2347, 2348, 2351, 2357, 2358, 2361, 2370, 2384, 2389, 2391, 2394, 2395, 2398, 2413, 2414, 2416, 2418, 2429, 2441, 2458, 2471, 2480, 2481, 2492, 2503, 2524, 2531, 2542, 2545, 2554, 2556, 2565, 2576, 2584, 2604, 2624, 2642, 2643, 2644, 2655, 2668, 2679, 2686, 2687, 2704, 2740, 2757, 2758, 2763, 2764, 2775, 2777, 2784, 2786, 2793, 2802, 2805, 2818, 2820, 2837, 2839, 2843, 2848, 2850, 2856, 2875, 2881, 2884, 2897, 2904, 2906, 2912, 2917, 2918, 2921, 2925, 2929, 2948, 2951, 2952, 2964, 2992, 3007, 3019, 3033, 3054, 3057, 3061, 3070, 3071, 3089, 3091, 3095, 3098, 3109, 3117, 3125, 3129, 3136, 3140, 3146, 3148, 3163, 3164, 3167, 3171, 3176, 3177, 3199, 3213, 3218, 3231, 3237, 3244, 3254, 3256, 3273, 3287, 3298, 3299, 3303, 3316, 3321, 3327, 3330, 3335, 3352, 3353, 3371, 3374, 3387, 3396, 3398, 3457, 3462, 3476, 3502, 3509, 3512, 3515, 3523, 3528, 3532, 3533, 3546, 3551, 3564, 3578, 3604, 3611, 3612, 3619, 3644, 3654, 3655, 3668, 3675, 3686, 3687, 3700, 3701, 3707, 3709, 3713, 3724, 3731, 3734, 3743, 3747, 3757, 3767, 3770, 3774, 3775, 3776, 3789, 3792, 3794, 3804, 3809, 3812, 3814, 3821, 3837, 3851, 3855, 3856, 3858, 3859, 3866, 3872, 3873, 3885, 3888, 3896, 3905, 3911, 3922, 3929, 3936, 3938, 3942, 3950, 3963, 3967, 3969, 3972, 3983, 3986, 3989, 3992, 3996, 3998, 4019, 4023, 4035, 4053, 4063, 4069, 4091, 4096, 4097, 4099, 4102, 4109, 4123, 4139, 4146, 4155, 4163, 4164, 4176, 4196, 4202, 4218, 4220, 4228, 4235, 4239, 4253, 4282, 4283, 4299, 4300, 4301, 4307, 4347, 4348, 4349, 4361, 4368, 4370, 4371, 4374, 4376, 4378, 4380, 4381, 4384, 4387, 4394, 4399, 4416, 4437, 4438, 4439, 4452, 4458, 4461, 4483, 4491, 4492, 4506, 4516, 4524, 4527, 4531, 4542, 4548, 4578, 4584, 4598, 4612, 4614, 4616, 4625, 4627, 4628, 4641, 4661, 4668, 4671, 4686, 4698, 4701, 4710, 4731, 4767, 4776, 4793, 4796, 4815, 4826, 4834, 4843, 4850, 4866, 4888, 4890, 4911, 4914, 4922, 4924, 4929, 4935, 4938, 4939, 4941, 4942, 4959, 4960, 4970, 4992, 4993, 4995, 5003, 5019, 5030, 5031, 5033, 5034, 5035, 5038, 5039, 5053, 5063, 5067, 5088, 5091, 5109, 5113, 5131, 5134, 5142, 5163, 5166, 5176, 5186, 5196, 5198, 5218, 5236, 5244, 5249, 5263, 5264, 5274, 5286, 5296, 5299, 5307, 5333, 5339, 5361, 5366, 5370, 5371, 5384, 5388, 5391, 5393, 5428, 5429, 5439, 5446, 5448, 5455, 5456, 5464, 5465, 5483, 5484, 5487, 5493, 5496, 5503, 5545, 5546, 5554, 5555, 5562, 5566, 5578, 5582, 5584, 5604, 5616, 5625, 5630, 5637, 5648, 5652, 5656, 5661, 5665, 5668, 5686, 5694, 5720, 5742, 5758, 5760, 5761, 5763, 5767, 5776, 5779, 5781, 5782, 5785, 5794, 5797, 5810, 5814, 5825, 5827, 5832, 5845, 5852, 5854, 5863, 5866, 5870, 5871, 5900, 5929, 5930, 5937, 5938, 5964, 5979, 5982, 5992, 5997, 6004, 6005, 6014, 6019, 6021, 6040, 6041, 6050, 6056, 6065, 6078, 6091, 6099, 6100, 6104, 6106, 6107, 6109, 6130, 6134, 6155, 6160, 6174, 6177, 6225, 6235, 6236, 6237, 6244, 6252, 6253, 6263, 6268, 6277, 6286, 6287, 6288, 6298, 6299, 6300, 6307, 6309, 6318, 6321, 6351, 6370, 6372, 6377, 6379, 6404, 6405, 6416, 6417, 6429, 6430, 6440, 6453, 6461, 6473, 6485, 6489, 6490, 6499, 6545, 6554, 6559, 6569, 6572, 6578, 6588, 6595, 6596, 6605, 6610, 6623, 6628, 6641, 6659, 6680, 6682, 6691, 6698, 6705, 6713, 6714, 6718, 6723, 6743, 6753, 6781, 6794, 6803, 6804, 6806, 6812, 6823, 6826, 6830, 6834, 6837, 6852, 6854, 6860, 6862, 6873, 6894, 6899, 6904, 6913, 6915, 6916, 6922, 6923, 6929, 6938, 6942, 6949, 6961, 6968, 6975, 6986, 6992, 6994, 6999, 7008, 7019, 7035, 7037, 7056, 7067, 7073, 7076, 7078, 7080, 7084, 7087, 7091, 7099, 7102, 7109, 7147, 7150, 7158, 7163, 7174, 7178, 7187, 7195, 7205, 7227, 7230, 7235, 7240, 7244, 7253, 7260, 7263, 7272, 7279, 7288, 7294, 7297, 7299, 7305, 7318, 7340, 7358, 7361, 7365, 7366, 7377, 7385, 7458, 7490, 7493, 7495, 7499, 7502, 7508, 7516, 7517, 7526, 7529, 7530, 7542, 7547, 7561, 7563, 7571, 7574, 7578, 7581, 7587, 7604, 7611, 7614, 7620, 7621, 7626, 7627, 7635, 7655, 7657, 7662, 7668, 7672, 7675, 7680, 7682, 7686, 7703, 7706, 7708, 7714, 7718, 7722, 7729, 7737, 7751, 7754, 7758, 7762, 7765, 7773, 7798, 7824, 7825, 7833, 7841, 7849, 7860, 7863, 7866, 7892, 7904, 7909, 7912, 7920, 7929, 7931, 7936, 7938, 7940, 7941, 7942, 7945, 7950, 7958, 7978, 7987, 7990, 7992, 7999, 8001, 8009, 8010, 8012, 8013, 8017, 8019, 8024, 8029, 8031, 8041, 8047, 8053, 8067, 8090, 8091, 8100, 8108, 8109, 8129, 8143, 8152, 8156, 8160, 8162, 8163, 8173, 8179, 8180, 8204, 8224, 8229, 8234, 8235, 8239, 8242, 8244, 8253, 8256, 8279, 8292, 8299, 8307, 8313, 8323, 8324, 8331, 8332, 8341, 8344, 8358, 8361, 8369, 8370, 8374, 8385, 8391, 8401, 8402, 8403, 8407, 8408, 8422, 8436, 8446, 8452, 8456, 8464, 8480, 8492, 8506, 8517, 8518, 8527, 8531, 8534, 8537, 8561, 8562, 8566, 8581, 8604, 8626, 8633, 8644, 8647, 8657, 8662, 8669, 8672, 8679, 8692, 8696, 8707, 8716, 8723, 8724, 8726, 8727, 8731, 8736, 8742, 8765, 8767, 8770, 8772, 8776, 8788, 8791, 8794, 8810, 8835, 8840, 8851, 8878, 8887, 8891, 8893, 8905, 8918, 8929, 8938, 8944, 8952, 8961, 8976, 8981, 8983, 8992, 9002, 9006, 9017, 9020, 9025, 9029, 9038, 9044, 9058, 9060, 9077, 9088, 9092, 9104, 9105, 9128, 9143, 9144, 9149, 9163, 9178, 9180, 9182, 9189, 9194, 9198, 9211, 9227, 9229, 9235, 9244, 9247, 9253, 9272, 9284, 9288, 9292, 9302, 9307, 9336, 9347, 9361, 9362, 9363, 9370, 9377, 9379, 9382, 9389, 9397, 9398, 9407, 9416, 9435, 9444, 9462, 9468, 9475, 9478, 9483, 9508, 9516, 9518, 9556, 9565, 9567, 9568, 9578, 9583, 9604, 9615, 9617, 9618, 9626, 9633, 9641, 9645, 9658, 9662, 9668, 9686, 9688, 9689, 9698, 9704, 9707, 9709, 9710, 9749, 9750, 9761, 9767, 9770, 9776, 9790, 9794, 9801, 9866, 9870, 9902, 9914, 9918, 9922, 9937, 9938, 9968, 9970, 9974}

2.  c083433  (120621)  {092, 245, 351, 395, 413, 433, 468, 571, 802, 0382, 0479, 0588, 0594, 0691, 0848, 0884, 0902, 0920, 1038, 1142, 1170, 1369, 1380, 1412, 1421, 1433, 1479, 1482, 1560, 1584, 1645, 1666, 1701, 1710, 1802, 1848, 1884, 1986, 2096, 2148, 2235, 2251, 2325, 2352, 2450, 2477, 2512, 2521, 2555, 2601, 2634, 2649, 2688, 2761, 2955, 2970, 2999, 3358, 3479, 3510, 3519, 3538, 3544, 3583, 3699, 3702, 3769, 3779, 3797, 3802, 3848, 3884, 3917, 3949, 3981, 3994, 4012, 4103, 4112, 4121, 4122, 4138, 4160, 4165, 4183, 4286, 4650, 4707, 4770, 4790, 4792, 4802, 4825, 4870, 4909, 4933, 4990, 5078, 5108, 5277, 5427, 5479, 5602, 5786, 5802, 5808, 5823, 5848, 5880, 5884, 6335, 6353, 6385, 6411, 6456, 6465, 6479, 6491, 6591, 6645, 6669, 6694, 6696, 6802, 6848, 6884, 6946, 6964, 6966, 7014, 7098, 7228, 7282, 7291, 7444, 7579, 7588, 7597, 7759, 7802, 7816, 7848, 7884, 7903, 7946, 8002, 8020, 8021, 8288, 8376, 8428, 8479, 8482, 8708, 8780, 8828, 8842, 8870, 8882, 9134, 9168, 9273, 9277, 9515, 9551, 9581, 9802, 9806, 9848, 9884, 9999}

3.  c222227222772202078  (1723)  {695, 825, 905, 0655, 0857, 0864, 1385, 1857, 2695, 3078, 3285, 3857, 4189, 4857, 5778, 5787, 6054, 6504, 6685, 6856, 6857, 6865, 7864, 8265, 8459, 8572, 9005, 9050, 9857}

4.  c332  (14072)  {323, 332, 3238, 3283, 3328, 5133, 7132}

5.  c3933  (10538)  {333, 3339, 3393, 3933}

6.  c5464644657500000011711019071641751  (49)  {243, 2439, 6782}

Roughly, in order of precursor frequency. Strictly speaking, the bold numbers are not precursors (to cycles) but, rather, cycle terms themselves. I include them for the sake of completeness. Are there any more cycles?

My tired lip, Angela

I don't recall when exactly I read Martin Gardner's article on mnemonics [Scientific American, October 1957; 'The Scientific American Book of Mathematical Puzzles & Diversions', 1959; reprinted as 'Hexaflexagons and Other Mathematical Diversions', 1988] but it was likely sixty years ago when I lived on Claremont Street and came across the 1959 book on puzzles and diversions, borrowed from what must have been the 'Boys & Girls Library' at Manning Ave. & Robinson St. I didn't get into Martin Gardner and Scientific American as an obsession until a few years later, December 1967 being my first store-purchased issue.

I was reminded of this by Futility Closet's recent 'Words and Numbers' which adjusts slightly Gardner's version (above) and gets into some π mnemonics. I had myself created one of these back then: "My tired lip, Angela, my lip." Twelve digits. Not too shabby and I recalled it after all these years, although I did attempt at first to place the 'tired' in front of the second 'lip'. I also remembered that the final p=9 wasn't actually π's twelfth digit but a rounding-up approximation. There is a much more intensive explanation/application of this particular use of mnemonics, here.

The fire at #3

1:25 AM (click to enlarge)

aftermath, in the light of day

Police said that this was arson, by a woman walking south on (very nearby) Weston Road.

The Townsend fire

Allan Reed and Frances Montgomery were married in 1937 in a Goderich Presbyterian church. Their third child, Eleanor, was born 8 January 1944 in nearby Dungannon, having been preceded by her siblings James and Jewel. A good Christian upbringing was no doubt an integral part of all three children's lives. Nevertheless, Eleanor found herself pregnant at age 18 and I do not know who the father was or that she had married. I do know that she was Mrs. Pat Moorehead a decade later when Canadian Queen of the Fiddle was released. The dates and circumstances of that relationship are also unknown to me. Eleanor's daughter, Catherine, was soon to be part of Eleanor's circa-1973 marriage to Graham Townsend, musician extraordinaire, and the 1975 birth of a step-brother, Graham (Gray) Jr.

The young Gray picture (above) is taken from a YouTube video where he is wearing dark glasses. It is well known that Graham Sr. was visually impaired from birth. Not well known is the fact that Graham's father, Fred Townsend, also struggled with poor eyesight in his youth and, by the time he reached his twenties, became convinced that he was going blind. In the 1901 U.K. census, Fred's mother, Alice Townsend (1878-1962), as well as Alice's mother, Dinah, are both described as "partially blind". Dinah's husband, William Townsend (1833-1921) is described as being "blind since 1864".

Gray at age 14

In 1984, Catherine had her first child, making Eleanor a grandmother. In 1991, Eleanor's mother, Frances, died at the age of 76. A year or so later, the Townsends moved to Barrie. In 1993, Catherine had a second child, Isabella, by a second-marriage to a Mr. Monti, who is otherwise unknown to me.

Gray at age 19

On 25 October 1998, at the Orangeville Convention Centre, hundreds of musicians and fans turned out to pay tribute to Graham and Eleanor Townsend. None too soon. On 3 December 1998, Graham Sr. died at age 56 from the effects of colon cancer after struggling with it, stated one source, for two years. According to Donna Douglas, Graham "had sought out alternative therapies", somewhat surprisingly, "with the financial help of friends in the music industry". On 22 December 1998, Eleanor's father, Allan Reed, died at age 72. A week or so later, Catherine Monti is preparing to give birth to her third child. Her older offspring "is away at camp" (possibly a mental health treatment facility) and the younger one, Isabella, is with gran'ma Eleanor. Perhaps Mr. Monti drove Isabella to the Townsend home in Barrie. Perhaps Eleanor picked her up in Dungannon.

In the wee hours of 31 December 1998, a fierce fire gutted the Townsend home at 56 Springdale Drive. The remains of 54-year-old Eleanor and 5-year-old Isabella were found in the living room, dead (it was determined later) from smoke inhalation. 23-year-old Gray managed to escape. "Isabella Johnson, a neighbour and friend who has lived next door since the Townsends moved in about six years ago, said she was awakened by Gray's yelling. She then heard a 'popping' noise as the fire engulfed the home..." [Montreal Gazette: 2 January 1999]. Gray ended up in the hospital with undisclosed injuries. It seems plausible that he had received burns. But how exactly, I have not come across anyone mentioning.

After an investigation by Barrie police and the Fire Marshal's Office, it was "revealed the fire was deliberately set by [Eleanor Townsend] in her vehicle which was parked in the garage" [Toronto Star: 16 March 1999]. "She was distraught over the death of her husband Graham, ... She was on prescription medication at the time of the fire, Detective Bryan Shultz said in a news release." As previously explained, the death of her husband was not a surprise and there is evidence that she was actually coping rather well: "Following the death of her husband, [Eleanor] Townsend said in an interview last month that she planned to work with her son at getting her late husband's works recorded" [Montreal Gazette: 2 January 1999]. The bit about being "on prescription medication" strikes me as not being obviously relevant. They should perhaps have stated the kind of prescription and how much of it was in her system. Instead, for a "fire [that] was purposely set in the seat of a car, parked in the garage of the house" [The Globe and Mail: 17 March 1999], what might have been her motive? Would not Eleanor taking care of her granddaughter and (presumably) looking forward to another grandchild have been important factors to consider? The authorities surely must have had additional evidence that implicated her.

It appears that they did. The official opinion may have had something to do with statements made by Gray: "'Mum was really not well and I was trying to keep things together when dad died', said her son, ..." [The Globe and Mail: 17 March 1999]. In fact, a family friend, Steve Fruitman, described Gray as being "terribly despondent over his father's death" [Gerry Taylor, New Brunswick Telegraph Journal: 5 January 1999], a situation not unlike the one Gray ascribes to his mother. Since it was thought important to point out that Eleanor was on medication, what about Gray? When he was in the hospital after the fire, were blood tests performed to examine his drug and alcohol levels?

Barrie fire chief Jim Lemieux had suggested that "Eleanor Townsend at first escaped the fire, but it seems she realized Isabella was trapped inside 'and went right back in'" [Toronto Star: 1 January 1999]. This is echoed in Taylor's Telegraph Journal article, but it included Gray in the escape: "The fire, of undetermined origin, was well advanced before Eleanor and her 23-year-old son, Gray, awakened and rushed from the house. Outside, Eleanor remembered that her five-year-old granddaughter was still asleep in the house and rushed back inside where she perished with the child." This information could only have come from Gray.

Ten weeks later: "[Gray] lived with [Eleanor Townsend] and she alerted him to the fire. He escorted his mother and his niece Isabella on to the deck at the back of the house. At some point, after being separated from her son, [Eleanor] Townsend and Isabella re-entered the home ..." [Toronto Star: 16 March 1999]. It appears that the story had changed. Neither version addresses how Gray might have sustained injuries but at least the later account has him taking charge and implies that Eleanor was aware of the fire before he was. "Family members said they believe Ms. Townsend went back into the house to look for the family dog and the girl followed her. The dog died in the fire." [The Globe and Mail: 17 March 1999]. That would have been Eleanor's brother, Jim Reed, and and his then-wife, Marina, showing that they were not prepared to doubt Gray's retelling of his escape from the fire.

A comment from someone Gray was dating "in the early 90s" [taken from the Gray-at-age-19 video] suggests that he "was patient, charming, disciplined and loved to teach. He also ran 5 miles a day every morning!" Perhaps all that ended with the move to Barrie. A new home, perhaps new friends. Had Gray finished high school yet? Was he, like his grandfather, struggling with increasingly bad eyesight and was, as a result, unable to get a driver's license? Did he resent his mother, Eleanor, being able to drive a vehicle at her whim, spending time with her daughter and grandchildren?

Gray died in 2003, presumably a short time after making available "a number of reel to reel tapes of material that Graham and Eleanor had taped on various occasions that were never released before" [Randy Morrison: liner notes on the 2004 album 'The Talented Townsends']. Somewhat remarkably (for an individual who is the product of musical royalty and is himself an entry in The Canadian Encyclopedia), I am not aware of anyone detailing anything concrete about his personal life after the fire or the circumstances of his death.

Update: Marlene Frost, my genealogy research partner, managed to acquire for me Randy Morrison's email. Randy kindly informed me that Gray died on the day of "New Year’s Eve of an overdose of pills and alcohol". That would have been the fifth anniversary of the day of the fire. And while Randy said that Gray's vision was fine (I had conjectured that Gray was going blind as a reason for some emotional turmoil that might have made him set fire to Eleanor's car), Randy understood Gray to have been bipolar: "Graham had to really keep a watch on him and after Graham died Gray was really lost and out of control."

Less is more

Last month I described my disappointment at the real-time performance I was getting in my million-digit Leyland-prime search. I have now done some testing on my wife's recently-acquired iMac, a 3.7 GHz 10-core Intel i9, slightly faster than my own two 3.6 GHz versions. Her computer was running only 4 of the million-digit search processes, because it was a replacement for a failing older 4-core iMac. Supplementing those processes by additional ones, I wanted to see how that would impact search time:

4 processes   4.2 hours   1.05 hours/process
5 processes   4.9 hours   0.98 hours/process
6 processes   5.9 hours   0.98 hours/process
7 processes   7.5 hours   1.07 hours/process
8 processes   9.7 hours   1.21 hours/process

In other words, on a 10-core iMac I can run 8 searches significantly faster simply by doing 4 at a time! Running 6 processes appears to be ideal.

Animal sightings

It's been an incredible couple of weeks for me spotting by my home animals that are usually seen much further afield. On June 11, it was ravens in our backyard maple tree. And on the same day, a chipmunk made it momentarily onto the edge of our deck. Both are rare in our neighbourhood and, as far as I know, never on our street. Blue jays are generally in flocks flying overhead but I was peripherally aware of (more by sound than by sight) a mating pair in the area. The photo, taken on June 18, shows one in our mulberry tree that could be an offspring of that pair. On June 20, the neighbour's side-yard hummingbird feeder, just over the fence, sported a hummingbird. And on June 23, I saw an opossum [caveat] crossing the road to the edge of our driveway. I don't think I've ever encountered a hummingbird or an opossum. As fate would have it, only the blue jay managed to make it into my camera.

Counting digits (reprise, see previous post: Spam)

1

199981

199982

199983

199984

199985

199986

199987

199988

199989

199990

199991

200001

1599981

1599982

1599983

1599984

1599985

1599986

1599987

1599988

1599989

1599990

1599991

2600001

13199998

13199999

28263827

28263828

35000001

35199981

35199982

35199983

35199984

35199985

35199986

35199987

35199988

35199989

35199990

35199991

35200001

117463825

117463826

242463827

242463828

371599983

371599984

371599985

371599986

371599987

371599988

371599989

371599990

371599991

371599992

371599993

499999984

499999985

499999986

499999987

499999988

499999989

499999990

499999991

499999992

499999993

499999994

500000001

500199981

500199982

500199983

500199984

500199985

500199986

500199987

500199988

500199989

500199990

500199991

500200001

501599981

501599982

501599983

501599984

501599985

501599986

501599987

501599988

501599989

501599990

501599991

502600001

513199998

513199999

528263827

528263828

535000001

535199981

535199982

535199983

535199984

535199985

535199986

535199987

535199988

535199989

535199990

535199991

535200001

1111111110

1111111111

2222222222

3333333333

4444444444

5555555555

6666666666

7777777777

8888888888

9471736170

9471736171

9486799989

9486799990

9486799991

9486799992

9486799993

9486799994

9486799995

9486799996

9486799997

9486799998

9498399989

9498399990

9498399991

9498399992

9498399993

9498399994

9498399995

9498399996

9498399997

9498399998

9628399986

9628399987

9628399988

9628399989

9628399990

9628399991

9628399992

9628399993

9628399994

9628399995

9628399996

9757536170

9757536171

9882536171

9882536172

9971736170

9971736171

9986799989

9986799990

9986799991

9986799992

9986799993

9986799994

9986799995

9986799996

9986799997

9986799998

9998399989

9998399990

9998399991

9998399992

9998399993

9998399994

9998399995

9998399996

9998399997

9998399998

9999999999

10028263827

10028263828

10242463827

10242463828

10371599983

10371599984

10371599985

10371599986

10371599987

10371599988

10371599989

10371599990

10371599991

10371599992

10371599993

10499999984

10499999985

10499999986

10499999987

10499999988

10499999989

10499999990

10499999991

10499999992

10499999993

10499999994

10528263827

10528263828

12222222222

13333333333

14444444444

15555555555

16666666666

17777777777

18888888888

19471736170

19471736171

19486799989

19486799990

19486799991

19486799992

19486799993

19486799994

19486799995

19486799996

19486799997

19486799998

19498399989

19498399990

19498399991

19498399992

19498399993

19498399994

19498399995

19498399996

19498399997

19498399998

19628399986

19628399987

19628399988

19628399989

19628399990

19628399991

19628399992

19628399993

19628399994

19628399995

19628399996

19757536170

19757536171

19882536171

19882536172

19971736170

19971736171

19986799989

19986799990

19986799991

19986799992

19986799993

19986799994

19986799995

19986799996

19986799997

19986799998

19998399989

19998399990

19998399991

19998399992

19998399993

19998399994

19998399995

19998399996

19998399997

19998399998

19999999999

20371599983

20371599984

20371599985

20371599986

20371599987

20371599988

20371599989

20371599990

20371599991

20371599992

20371599993

20499999984

20499999985

20499999986

20499999987

20499999988

20499999989

20499999990

20499999991

20499999992

20499999993

20499999994

23333333333

24444444444

25555555555

26666666666

27777777777

28888888888

29471736170

29471736171

29486799989

29486799990

29486799991

29486799992

29486799993

29486799994

29486799995

29486799996

29486799997

29486799998

29498399989

29498399990

29498399991

29498399992

29498399993

29498399994

29498399995

29498399996

29498399997

29498399998

29628399986

29628399987

29628399988

29628399989

29628399990

29628399991

29628399992

29628399993

29628399994

29628399995

29628399996

29757536170

29757536171

29882536171

29882536172

29971736170

29971736171

29986799989

29986799990

29986799991

29986799992

29986799993

29986799994

29986799995

29986799996

29986799997

29986799998

29998399989

29998399990

29998399991

29998399992

29998399993

29998399994

29998399995

29998399996

29998399997

29998399998

29999999999

30499999984

30499999985

30499999986

30499999987

30499999988

30499999989

30499999990

30499999991

30499999992

30499999993

30499999994

34444444444

35555555555

36666666666

37777777777

38888888888

39471736170

39471736171

39486799989

39486799990

39486799991

39486799992

39486799993

39486799994

39486799995

39486799996

39486799997

39486799998

39498399989

39498399990

39498399991

39498399992

39498399993

39498399994

39498399995

39498399996

39498399997

39498399998

39628399986

39628399987

39628399988

39628399989

39628399990

39628399991

39628399992

39628399993

39628399994

39628399995

39628399996

39757536170

39757536171

39882536171

39882536172

39971736170

39971736171

39986799989

39986799990

39986799991

39986799992

39986799993

39986799994

39986799995

39986799996

39986799997

39986799998

39998399989

39998399990

39998399991

39998399992

39998399993

39998399994

39998399995

39998399996

39998399997

39998399998

39999999999

45555555555

46666666666

47777777777

48888888888

49471736170

49471736171

49486799989

49486799990

49486799991

49486799992

49486799993

49486799994

49486799995

49486799996

49486799997

49486799998

49498399989

49498399990

49498399991

49498399992

49498399993

49498399994

49498399995

49498399996

49498399997

49498399998

49628399986

49628399987

49628399988

49628399989

49628399990

49628399991

49628399992

49628399993

49628399994

49628399995

49628399996

49757536170

49757536171

49882536171

49882536172

49971736170

49971736171

49986799989

49986799990

49986799991

49986799992

49986799993

49986799994

49986799995

49986799996

49986799997

49986799998

49998399989

49998399990

49998399991

49998399992

49998399993

49998399994

49998399995

49998399996

49998399997

49998399998

49999999999

56666666666

57777777777

58888888888

59471736170

59471736171

59486799989

59486799990

59486799991

59486799992

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