So you need to consider paths that have different speeds. Feynman's way of doing quantum mechanics suggests that anything going from one place to another is connected in every possible way. And the internet is kind of like that too connecting us to anything, anywhere, at any time.
to playing drums. But in November 1964, to students at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, he was already a star, and they received him as such. Feynman came to deliver a series of lectures. Strains of "Far Above Cayuga's Waters" rang out from the Cornell chimes.
The provost introduced Feynman as an instructor and physicist par excellence, but also, of course, as an accomplished bongo drummer. Feynman strode onto the stage to the kind of applause reserved for performing artists, and opened his lecture with this observation-- "It's odd, but in the infrequent occasions when I have been called upon in a formal place to play the bongo drums, the introducers never seem to find it necessary to mention that I also
We look at something like an electron, which is a quantum particle. Feynman taught us that the electron does not do what a macroscopic object do, which is that it traverses a very deterministic and unique path from the initial point to the final point.
So that's been a plus for me. Tina Fey had been the head writer at "SNL" for a lot of the time there.
Authors@Google Presents Tina Fey Fireside Chat With Eric Schmidt Tina Fey : Hi. Hello! . >>Tina Fey : Thank you. Eric Schmidt: I told you they would -- they were excited. >>Tina Fey : Awesome.
And perhaps most important, she announced last week she's pregnant with her second child. Tina Fey : Thank you. Thank you, Eric. Eric Schmidt: Welcome to Google. >>Tina Fey : Thank you very much. It's so nice to be here. >>Eric Schmidt: I've been reading your book,
anniversary, Eric? How could you? >>Eric Schmidt: We're not married. Tina Fey : Aha, we're not married is a denial. We've learned our first improv lesson. Tina Fey : It takes a long time to learn. >>Eric Schmidt: This is the problem with an engineer trying to learn -- >>Tina Fey : It takes a long time to learn
Tina Fey : Aha, we're not married is a denial. We've learned our first improv lesson. Tina Fey : It takes a long time to learn. >>Eric Schmidt: This is the problem with an engineer trying to learn -- >>Tina Fey : It takes a long time to learn those basic rules of improv. >>Eric Schmidt: Why don't you take us through them. They're in the book. >>Tina Fey : I improvised at Second City, a
you've already agreed upon. So the gun, the gun I gave you for our wedding anniversary. How could you? And then we hit a brick wall, Eric. Tina Fey : But it's funny, because it's very -- some very famous comedians -- there's an old story about Joan rivers was at the Second City briefly, 1959, 1960, they used this in class at Second City all the time. There was someone who came in and said I want a divorce was beginning the scene. She said, I want
didn't tell you. That's why we're getting divorced. Tina Fey : Yes, I have some other children. This is exactly why. Eric Schmidt: Got it. >>Tina Fey : For me, it was a lot about being -- you have to be open to any possibility and you're being open to the fact that -- an
Eric Schmidt: Did people tell you this when you were 13? Tina Fey : No, people did not say, "You're so funny." I think mostly what comedian -- people in comedy know at a certain age is that they want to be funny. You know what I mean? You know you're really interested you and want to do it. Then you don't know for a long time. I think at 13, it's -- manifests itself as
annoying. Tina Fey : And then you hone it for, like, 25 years. Tina Fey : And sometimes it's still annoying. Eric Schmidt: One of the people who was, I think, the biggest influence on you was Lorne Michaels. And in the book, you have a lot of discussion about Lorne and his rules.
Eric Schmidt: He has another rule about Harvard and people who didn't go to college. Tina Fey : Some are things that he actually says out loud and some are things that I just sort of gathered from spending a lot of time with him. But he just somehow knew that there was a -- the best mix for Saturday Night Live and something I tried to apply at 30 Rock was to take a mix of Harvard people or Harvard-style
And alarmingly, in your book, you actually do say that there's a difference. Tina Fey : I admit to the -- the secret core difference that -- between male and female comedy writers. Usually I try to -- people ask me that question a lot, what's the difference between men and women in comedy and what do they like? And usually I try to just be so boring that they lose interest in the answer and walk away.
between men and women in comedy and what do they like? And usually I try to just be so boring that they lose interest in the answer and walk away. Tina Fey : But -- 'cause I always say, well, there's a tremendous amount of overlap in the middle of what men and women and all people find funny. And then at the outset, you know, men kind of maybe like Sharks and robots doing things more than women -- you know, the masturbating bear is over here and sort of over here is
it's true here. >>Tina Fey : I said certainly not all of them, but just, you know, compared to zero of the women. Tina Fey : Can you imagine the women trying to do that in their offices? It would be so much more difficult. Although not impossible. Eric Schmidt: I think maybe we should move to another section of the book.
Eric Schmidt: I think maybe we should move to another section of the book. Tina Fey : Also, the men sometimes pretend to rape each other. The women never do that. Tina Fey : I deal in generalizations, but....
Tina Fey : Also, the men sometimes pretend to rape each other. The women never do that. Tina Fey : I deal in generalizations, but.... Tina Fey : Never do it.
Tina Fey : I deal in generalizations, but.... Tina Fey : Never do it. Eric Schmidt: Shall we move to the next section of the book? Okay.
knew who you were. And now you're recognized everywhere. Tina Fey : It's a weird thing. And I have actually been photographed in lots of kind of formal model-like settings, kind of a lot of times now. And it's -- it is one of the most fun things you'll ever do if you -- people like to pretend to complain about it and say it's hard. It is delightful. >>Eric Schmidt: Okay.
of the most fun things you'll ever do if you -- people like to pretend to complain about it and say it's hard. It is delightful. >>Eric Schmidt: Okay. Tina Fey : You are treated to, you know, like -- you're treated like a queen, like, anything you want to eat? Do you want some kind of special coffee. You're always in some beautiful loft space. And they try to put clothes on you that are made for -- they're doll clothes. You should know if you see anyone you ever know in a magazine, their clothes
30 minutes ago or something. Tina Fey : There are a lot of tricks. But most of it is just pretending like you have to abandon your own sort of intelligence of, like, this is insane.
Do you -- the stuff is written for you guys? Do you guys invent it? Tina Fey : Oh, no. >>Eric Schmidt: He's funny by himself. Tina Fey : He is funny by himself. But the show is very much written.
Tina Fey : Oh, no. >>Eric Schmidt: He's funny by himself. Tina Fey : He is funny by himself. But the show is very much written. We shoot the show on film. And a lot of shows are shot on high-def video. But we shoot on film. We sort of got in under the wire. They don't really let people do that very much
because it's more expensive. But it's also more kind. Tina Fey : And as you can tell by that under. Eric Schmidt: It's time for another one of those Benadryl pose things.
Eric Schmidt: It's time for another one of those Benadryl pose things. Tina Fey : So we don't have time to alter very much during our shooting day. We shoot about 12, 14 hours a day. And so we have an excellent writing staff. And they write for him. And we do table reads of the scripts about a week before. So we, you know, read the thing aloud for a group
in the moment. We'll let them do it. Tina Fey : And that's sort of how it goes. Then we rehearse and we film. Eric Schmidt: The -- I wanted to talk a little bit about -- you know, you were sort of pretty famous, and then the Sarah Palin maneuver came along.
topic in the national media of America. Let's talk about how that felt. Tina Fey : Yeah. It was very weird. I went from being what I would describe as kind of comfortably famous, which was if anyone knew me from Saturday Night Live or from 30 Rock, it was because they had really watched it and, you know -- and that jump of that kind of more just arbitrary fame, it's very strange. But --
Lorne about doing it because it was this kind of thing where if people just noticed that we had a vague resemblance. Tina Fey : Vague. And brown hair and glasses. I say, if she -- if Sarah Palin had chosen contact lenses ten years ago, I would not be with you right now. Tina Fey : Because it was that basic glasses, brown hair thing. And people somehow knew that I had been on SNL. No one seemed to notice that I did not work there anymore.
now. Tina Fey : Because it was that basic glasses, brown hair thing. And people somehow knew that I had been on SNL. No one seemed to notice that I did not work there anymore. Tina Fey : That I had a new program that was -- had been on for two years. And that even when I did work there, I only did the news. But people were like brown hair, glasses. We get it. We want it.
news. But people were like brown hair, glasses. We get it. We want it. Tina Fey : But I knew that that was -- I knew people who were real impressionists, people like Darryl Hammond and Dana Carvey, who, really, this is truly a gift they have. So I was reluctant at first.
Eric Schmidt: Later, she said she complained about your role in her campaign. Tina Fey : We had a perfectly lovely day together. And then later, in some documentary, she felt that Katie Couric and I had exploited her family for profit or something. And I say, show me the receipt!
also have a movie that you're going to work on. Tina Fey : I do? >>Eric Schmidt: Yes. Tina Fey : Which -- >>Eric Schmidt: That's what they said.
Tina Fey : I do? >>Eric Schmidt: Yes. Tina Fey : Which -- >>Eric Schmidt: That's what they said. Tina Fey : Okay. I wonder what that is.
Tina Fey : Which -- >>Eric Schmidt: That's what they said. Tina Fey : Okay. I wonder what that is. Eric Schmidt: Okay. >>Tina Fey : I have a couple movies I'm supposed to be working on. >>Eric Schmidt: Okay.
be available for that in 2012 if they need that. Tina Fey : It's so fun to just go down, just show up on Saturday and do one sketch and then start drinking. Eric Schmidt: We have lots of -- lots of questions from you all. We also -- I sent a series of tweets to get
Eric Schmidt: So we have a lot of people watching. Tina Fey : . Eric Schmidt: This is from Briana, a Googler. Who's your favorite guest star on 30 Rock? Favorite host from your SNL days? Why? >>Tina Fey : We've had so many guest stars on 30 Rock that we have been so lucky. My favorite. I mean, we had -- there are people
of the family. >>Eric Schmidt: Oh, he's phenomenal. Tina Fey : And he's so funny. Yeah, there's, like, a million of them. Eric Schmidt: This is from Jenny, also a Googler. Given how hilarious everyone on the 30 Rock cast is what's the average number of takes that you have to redo because everyone
We do a lot of takes because no one knows their lines. Tina Fey : But I would say actual cracking up happens only when there's also a lot of fatigue involved. Jack McBrayer gets the giggles every now and then. Alec almost never ever breaks. I would
Eric Schmidt: You're professionals. This is from a fan of yours in Macedonia. Tina Fey : Okay. >>Eric Schmidt: Which is still a country. Eric Schmidt: Hi, Tina. One of the reasons I love 30 Rock so much is the amazing chemistry between you and Alec Baldwin. Who do you think
about meetings and he has to go to the meeting about meetings. Tina Fey : Yes. And he wants to be on the cover of meetings magazine. Eric Schmidt: That's my own ambition.
roles if you can get them? >>Tina Fey : I would like my career to drift toward being a judge on Law and Order. Tina Fey : I feel like the hours and the outfit appeal to me. Tina Fey : I think it would be fun to do.
Tina Fey : I feel like the hours and the outfit appeal to me. Tina Fey : I think it would be fun to do. But I think I don't know that anyone would ever let me do a wholly serious role.
20-something female writers and entrepreneurs, what would it be? Tina Fey : Not literally one word? Eric Schmidt: Now you're behaving like a Googler.
Eric Schmidt: Now you're behaving like a Googler. Tina Fey : Yeah. >>Eric Schmidt: Don't be so literal. Tina Fey : Gosh, I -- I think my advice would be to trust your gut, to trust your gut creatively
Tina Fey : Yeah. >>Eric Schmidt: Don't be so literal. Tina Fey : Gosh, I -- I think my advice would be to trust your gut, to trust your gut creatively and in any kind of workplace situation. 'Cause the few times that I look back on anything that, oh, I wish I would have done this differently, it's when I had a sense to it, but I didn't
I want to go there, unquote. Are there other examples, how old is your daughter? Tina Fey : She's five and a half. "I want to go to there" was something that Liz Lemon said that she saw when she saw the Web site for Disney World the first time. And -- Eric Schmidt: In your book, you rate activities with your daughter roughly equal to everything else you've accomplished. >>Tina Fey : Yeah, for sure.
Eric Schmidt: And we have a lot of applications that can help you with what you can go, what you can do. Tina Fey : Awesome. >>Eric Schmidt: This is what we do. We're good at it. >>Tina Fey : Was it because I did that, you can tell -- >>Eric Schmidt: When your daughter gets older, you can keep track of your daughter. Trust me, you're going to want our phones.
can tell -- >>Eric Schmidt: When your daughter gets older, you can keep track of your daughter. Trust me, you're going to want our phones. Tina Fey : Subdermal chip. >>Eric Schmidt: That's been proposed. But we're not quite there yet. >>Tina Fey : I'm trying to think of what other lines. She -- when she sits -- if she sits like this, when she -- she calls this sitting on her knees butt. So we use that. That makes sense. Tracy Jordan talking about his knees