“Michael Blowhard” of 2Blowhwards– see my blogroll– has just written a touching link and description of my site. Michael was the first person to admit me to a blog, with a guest post on the writer’s life, several years ago. I guess that makes him my “blogfather”. I am honored. Please, check out Blowhards– it …
Month: June 2005
Slow Food?
The moas of New Zealand were the largest true birds that ever lived. They were preyed upon by an eagle that was itself so large it probaby ate the first human settlers, the Maori, as well– they have legends saying so, and pictured it on rocks. As in so many places, humans probably put an …
Got Mud?
From England via Cox News Service: fake mud for your four wheel drive vehicle: ” Maybe your rugged SUV never goes anywhere wilder than the mall, but you can look like a wilderness adventurer with Spray-On Mud. For owners who don’t want it to look like they’re driving an unnecessary gas-guzzler, a little splash signals …
Great Quote
Physicist Wolfgang Pauli’s comment on a paper submitted by a colleague: “This isn’t right. This isn’t even wrong.” (Shamelessly stolen from Cathy Siepp).
Frederick Turner on dubious judgement
Frederick Turner, classicist, poet, teacher, and polymath, is one of our most important and unfortunately least known intellectuals and philosophers. His remarkable body of work transcends genres and easy political categories. He is a biologically and scientifically literate humanist and a poet who writes epics and metered lyrics. A quick view of his work can …
I bet they didn’t do it in chadors…
Two Iranian women make it to the top of Everest.
“Think Like a Neanderthal”
Dr. Ana Pinto did just that and found a Spanish cave that was inhabited for 60,000 years, and more. This New York Times interview covers carnivorous cave bears, even more carnivorous Neanderthals, and the possibility that H. sapiens greater omnivory might have given us a competitive advantage. Via Cronaca.
Africa’s Pol Pot?
Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe has begun to burn the houses of thousands of urban poor people and drive them into the already-starving countryside. One of Africa’s rare food exporters has been turned into something resembling a subtropical North Korea. I was in Zimbabwe shortly before the current troubles began and fell in love with it. Even …
Am I in the wrong trade?
Jonathan Hanson of Alpha Environmentalist and I have a long history of trying to one- up each other with the worst and always hilarious excesses of postmodern academic– i. e., art school– “art”. This is not actually the worst, but will do as a contender. “In May, at the annual spring auction at Christie’s in …
Fashion Week in Almaty
Sometimes it is very hard to convey the realities of Central Asia. People can just about get the idea of what remote parts of Mongolia are like– they like the idea of “primitive”. But what about Almaty? It is a huge modern city with tree- lined boulevards and excellent restaurants and cyber- cafes, situated in …