You can have your very own two-headed snake, for sale on eBay. Minimum bid is $150,000.
Breakfast on the Trail with Frank Hamilton Cushing
A while back Steve said we should do more food-blogging, doubtless inspired by the good things our blog-sister Roseann Hanson puts up at Three Martini Lunch. So I wanted to pull my weight in that regard, though not to short myself, a few weeks ago I did post a coot recipe that Rebecca O’Connor told …
Archaeologist in New Orleans
This article in today’s New York Times about an archaeologist working with FEMA on Hurricane Katrina reconstruction is interesting as far as it goes, but leaves a lot out concerning the role that cultural resources (archaeology and history) play in those Federally-funded efforts. Much of the work that FEMA sponsors is considered Federal undertakings, and …
The New Middle Ages
I don’t agree with everything Eric Jager says in his LA Times op-ed piece, but I will second his strike at “presentism” or our predisposition to view contemporary times as the summit of knowledge and enlightenment looming above the ignorance and intolerance of past ages. I find this particularly irritating when public figures in past …
Photos from Turkey
Steve continues to experience computer problems that make it impractical to load posts into Blogger, but he does have e-mail. He was able to send me these dog and bird photos from his trip that I have loaded below. The dog photos were taken in rural Kurdish areas and the pictures of birds are from …
The Alligator at Machado Lake
Matt first posted back in August on the story of an 8-foot alligator that was found in Lake Machado in the Harbor City area of Los Angeles. It was obviously a released pet, and was a two-week media sensation in the city. People came out to the 54 acre lake to try to see the …
Attack Chihuahuas
A police officer in Fremont, CA was attacked by a pack of vicious chihuahuas while making an arrest. He was taken to the hospital, treated for ankle-bites, and released. It’s tough out there!
William W. Howells, RIP
William Howells, a giant in physical anthropology, has died at 97. He was a stalwart of the “second generation” of anthropologists in this country. Anthropology as a modern social science was founded in America by Franz Boas, a German immigrant, who established a department at Columbia University in the 1890s. He trained the first generation …
Seasons Change
Here in Southern California seasonal changes are a lot more subtle than most of you are used to – certainly much more than I was growing up in Tennessee. I have joked to Steve and Matt that I sometimes have to check the latest Cabela’s catalog to see what season I’m in. One of the …
The Bible in Gullah
Gullah is a Creole English dialect spoken by the descendants of slaves in the Sea Islands of Georgia and in low coastal areas of Georgia and South Carolina. I remember learning about this dialect (called Gullah in South Carolina and Geechee in Georgia) when I took intro linguistics at Tulane. This tells the story of …