life after poincare 2: a dutiful mind

grigori perelman is, in a lot of ways, the coolest dude of all time. we sure loved his last video adventure, so were incredibly excited to receive the following note from a counsellor friend of ours over the weekend.

I happen to have had the honor of meeting the mathematical hero Grigori Perelman on a recent flight from Los Angeles to Saint Petersberg. (I do not need to explain to you Dr. Perelman's accomplishments in the realm of topology.)

We exchanged few words (barf-bag, lightning) on the long journey. Dr. Perelman seemed withdrawn and preoccupied -- more than even I, adistant but dedicated disciple of his self-muted genius, might have expected.

Mid-flight, however, an opportunity for an entree presented itself. Just as I became most engrossed with my fourth whiskey -- and Dr. Perelman his fifth Sudoko-Origami puzzle -- I spied a curious decal on the spine of a video cassette poking from the satchel Dr. Perelman clutched beneath his gnarled fists.

Thank goodness I can still recognize Cyrilic characters. The phrase on the cassette read: "Life After Poincare."

(Haha, Mother: Dr. Ludovico's Etonian lashings were not for naught!).

You can understand then, my friends, why I distracted Dr. Perelman with the impromptu fire (courtesy of a matchbook still in my pocket from my ill-fated evening, the night before, at the Magic Castle Pub) that I ignited in the footwell of the seat between us.

Naturally, I took advantage of the situation -- amidst Perelman's pyrophobic hysterics -- to snatch the video tape and tuck it into the belly pocket of my newly acquired Wrangler coveralls.

Upon landing, and after a most spirited but diplomatic conversation with a Russian constable ("Sir, I can assure you that I am not a journalist!"), I of course proceeded posthaste to my preferred fence in Old Leningrad, who loaned me his most newly pawned video transcoders for the evening.

You can imagine my astonishment as I viddied this pictures.