Don't look if your squeemish

Yahoo! News Photo Boxing is a brutal sport, noone deserves an ass whuppin that bad. I am thinking the ref let it go on a bit to long. I havn't seen a shiner like that since Tony Kanigliaro took a fastball in the eye. A career ending fastball.

Geezer Commune

A guy who works with me pointed us at this NY Times front page article featuring his parents' "commune." His father is the physicist in the article who is "perpetually clad in purple socks and sandals." (Growing up, my work colleague remembers poking around Edward Teller's prosthetic leg at his parents' parties, and sleeping in a radioactive sleeping bag in which his father once surreptitiously slept in the desert to observe the Trinity atomic test -- but that is another story.)

Opting for old age on their own terms, they were starting a new chapter in their lives as residents of Glacier Circle, the country's first self-planned housing development for the elderly — a community they had conceived and designed themselves, right down to its purple gutters.

It's an interesting idea, enough to make it to the top spot on the most EMailed NYTimes articles for a while.

If you want smart bugs

When I read the post about the benefits of insects with regards to criminal investigations I thought about thisclick on this htt:www.sciencedaily.com/realeases/2005/10/05/1021120542.htm Then enter key word trained wasps.It seems that insects, wasps in this case, have more value than I had ever imagined. A low tech approach to security that seems promising. In looking for this article I was amazed at all the insect reasearch that was going on particularly at Ga. Tech. This security benefit was only a small part of the things they are doing. Things like the study of insect algorythms and flying robots patterned after insects with the ultimate goal of exploring mars. Their artificial insect won some prestigious science award. Who knew?

Choosing Books

One thing I started doing years ago is to read the opening paragraphs of any book I'm thinking about buying. It's amazing how often that simple gesture can keep you from wasting time and money. If the opening sentence is like something from Bulwer-Lytton, or not really to your taste, you can stop while you're ahead. With that in mind, I thought I'd mention that I read Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell. In the book, she basically runs around the country researching the assassinations of Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley. Very funny, but perhaps a little too left wing for some of our readership. Her opening sentence:

Going to Ford's Theater for the play is like going to Hooters for the food.

How could you not be hooked after reading that?

Full Circle

The Case of the Grad School Dilemma is one step closer to being solved as Kyla discovered online today that she has been accepted at GW in their forensic science program. You go girl!

The Real Grissom

Since Kyla is taking forensic entomology, I thought she might be interested in this article about what seems like the real Gus Grissom from CSI and an exhibit at LBL in Berkeley.

Before Goff can utter "forensic entomologist," he has whipped out a laptop and cheerily launched a slideshow of gruesome photos of maggots nibbling away at naked, badly beaten, long-dead bodies.

A career opportunity in "maggots and mayhem."

EMail Addresses

I almost posted about the NYTimes article regarding teachers' reactions to students' presumptious use of EMail to demand responses from them. It was interesting. More interesting, though, was a blog article I saw that raised the question of email addresses used by students:

...even though universities give students email addresses, it’s often the case that students won’t use them. Instead they prefer their free hotmail or yahoo or gmail addresses. No problem as such there, except that sometimes the students pick the kind of addresses for themselves that aren’t exactly professional-quality. Frankly it feels a bit odd to correspond with, e.g., missbitchy23 or WildcatBongs about letters of reference or what have you.

This led to a comments section full of "our favorite inappropriate student email addresses". Some of my favorites: pimpdaddy69, creamythighs247, CutieWithBooty81, bigpimp34, chunkymonkey, sexylegs, jesus_sucks_my_penis, and a variety of AOL screen names: aqua-anus, Igotoohard, hardnowsoftlater, virusspreader, lepercolony, no69ismyfav, eatdung69, and the ever popular failingschool. The funniest comments are from people teaching resume writing classes. For the record, though, I figured Garrett's "demonted" email address was a net positive when applying for a job at a game store.

More on Social Networking

Now that we have you all up to speed on Facebook, you might want a little more education on the subject of social networking courtesy of The Daily Show. Or, if the comedic approach (or the plug-in) doesn't work for you, you see corporate America's take at Business Week. P.S. In the Daily Show report, he mentioned something Dara and I never heard of before, emo rock. Keith, Dan is going to be educating you on all of these subjects before long.

UVA vrs YALE

Kirsti and I want to go but have some conflicting plans on the 18th unless the game is in the evening in which case we can most likely make it. Of course we blocked out the 19th since Yale is the odds on favorite to win the first match, so we look forward to joining in the Yale/Kyla cheering section regardless. Please send us any schedule info as it becomes available.

You might be a redneck if

Fuel for Growth While reading this article you realize your neighbor has an ethanol plant in his barn. In the print version of this article they breakdown the process by which ethanol is made and as I read it I began to realize that it is the exact process my neighbor uses to concoct his home brew whiskey. I have tasted it as a courtesy to him, not bad but I wouldn't make a habit out of drinking it. I may take that jug he has been offering me and dump it in my gas tank just to see what happens.

Its no space elevator

There was no nano ribbons or hydro-carbons but Dan's version of the Wooden-Generator managed to win 3rd place at the RMA science fair he didn't want me bragging unless he won 1st but what the heck. He also managed to make the principles list this semester with a solid B average. He has a couple of teachers that are "cool" and the rest are in the "nice" catogory.

Yale's Sex Week

It's no coincidence that this Yale event doesn't occur during Parents Weekend.

Yale's event, which ends Saturday, includes lectures from dating specialists, a sex therapist and a discussion of homosexuality with a former Roman Catholic priest. More provocative sessions include a panel of porn stars and stripping lessons from a Playboy Channel hostess.

Ever mindful of perception, one senior observes of the panel of porn stars:

It would seem like we were trying to intellectualize sex if we didn't have something on the other end of the spectrum.

And then there is the kid who realizes his mom is going to hear about it:

In planning it, I'm saying, "Could I justify the educational value of this to my mom?" If we can, we're in good shape.

Something tells me he should worry about his Saturday night plans, not his mom.

New Sport?

After watching the first ever Olympic snowboard-cross race tonight, I've decided that this is the next step in snowboarding for Dad and I. We might have to take a few terrain park lessons first though in order to prepare for the gigantic bumps on the courses. If you missed out on the men's races tonight you should definitely check out the women tomorrow night, it's really exciting to watch - speed, jumps, and the inevitable crashing!

Going Up!

Have you guys ever heard of a space elevator? It's one of those ideas that has been around for a while and seems to come from science fiction. NASA sponsors a contest in this area, and it looks like the idea is on its way to becoming reality. Here's how it works, from the company's web site:

the space elevator will consist of a carbon nanotube composite ribbon stretching some 62,000 miles (100,000 km) from earth to space. The elevator will be anchored to a specially designed ocean going vessel named, "The LiftPort" near the equator in the Pacific Ocean, and to a small man-made counterweight in space. Lifters (robotic elevator cars) will move up and down the ribbon, carrying such items as satellites, solar power systems, exploration probes, factories, and eventually people into space.

Now that would be cool.

The Next Family Vacation

After dude ranches and alpine snowboarding, it may be time to try something a bit different. Obviously, this may require some discussion with the kids and wife. I will keep you posted.

The pioneer spirit and frozen bozos

It doesn't snow much here but you can usualy count on at least one good one every year, and last weekend was our one good one I hope. The forcast of 18" set off a panic of buying at the grocery store and by 8;00 fri night there wasn't a gallon of milk or a roll of toilet paper in the whole county. The snow actualy started sometime sat afternoon and by midnight we had about 4" thats when our power went out. Another 6" or so finaly fell before it was over. It was a beautifull snow, the type that sticks to all the trees and creates a winter scene only seen on x-mas cards. The power situation was sort of fun at first,since we heat with wood we were not freezing, and the chores of melting snow for water to wash dishes and playing an assortment of nonelectronic games was fun for a while, but the pioneer spirit began to wear thin after 12 hours or so. Fortunately I have a generator which I eventualy got cranked up and provided a few of those frivolous comforts to make it through the next 12 hours, about 24 hours without power in all, How did those pioneers make it without X-Box. We spent quite a bit of time on our 4 wheelers, the traction in the snow provides a whole new dimension to the experience. Dan is now expereinced enough to let him loose on his own, a priviledge we are both enjoying. Throughout the entire weekend I never felt the need to store a snowball for properity.

Round Up Guilt

For many years I have subscribed to the school that elbow grease was the best gardening tool. Of late I have given in to the use of Round Up to deal with the tedious chore of climbing around the walkways and driveway on hands and knees, pulling crabgrass from between cracks. Oh well. When we first moved into this place, we looked around for a gardener to do the routine maintenance (something that never happened). One looked around and suggested spraying the entire grounds with Round Up. I don't think I'm ever going to go there, but thought I'd publicly display the guilty feelings I have even doing this much. Yours in tree huggery.

Graduation Details

Aside from the dinner we're planning on Sunday, here are the details on the Yale College commencement schedule and activities.

Oldest Snowball

When you live in a place where a thunderstorm makes the front page of the paper, and a frosty windshield is taken care of by spraying water from your hose onto your car, actual snow is a major event. The last time we saw any snow in San Francisco or San Jose was thirty years ago. You can imagine the kids running around making snowballs and sticking them in the freezer. One of those snowballs is a local legend apparently.

The last week has been a whirl of 30th anniversary events. Forget Super Bowl Sunday. At the Shamus house it was Snow Ball Sunday -- a party with snowball cookies, snowball balloons, snowball cutouts, a collection of old photos and newspaper clippings and a big sign celebrating the icy icon's longevity.

Jeff, 44, marked the occasion by launching a Web site, www.oldestsnowball.com, to sate those hungry for snowball news.

"It's just kind of a stupid Web site," says Jeff, chief executive of a small software company. "Some people will find it amusing."

I thought this story was funny. However, I thought the followup was even funnier.

"I hate to burst the lady's bubble [...] but I also have a snowball in my freezer from that snowfall. And there are probably about another 500 people in the valley that do, too."

Next you'll see them on EBay.

Regionals at UVa

For those of you interested in seeing another Yale polo match, I recently found out our team will be traveling down to UVa for the regional competition the weekend of March 16th through 19th. The women are currently scheduled to play on Saturday the 18th and then if we win that match (which we expect to), we'll play again in the finals on Sunday. I don't know the exact timing of the matches, but I'll pass that along when I get it. Mom is planning on coming out to watch the matches and it would be great to get as much support as we can get, the girls and I are working very hard to win this regional competition and go on to Nationals.

Thus Began Our Longest Journey Together

Via my favorite left blog, here is a pointer to a fascinating story about Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird. I know Mom always loved the book and thought she might be interested. I didn't know a thing about Harper Lee myself.

Her book on racial injustice in the South may have sold 10 million copies and she is a key character in the Oscar-nominated film Capote, to be released this month, but Lee herself disappeared from public life for more than four decades. She followed the well-trodden path of literary recluses like JD Salinger and Thomas Pynchon. All had written huge hits and then shunned fame by withdrawing from the world. Harper Lee was just another mystery.

A key character in a film about Truman Capote?!?!

Her first brush with fame came when she worked as Truman Capote's assistant on his seminal work In Cold Blood, the exploration of a multiple killing in Kansas. Six years in the writing, the book, which created a genre of crime writing, was dedicated to Lee; Capote, who had been a childhood neighbour of Lee, credited her for doing 'secretarial work' on the project.

Amazing. With this kind of obscure trivia, I'm now feeling better armed for that Jeopardy tournament.

Trip Report

Once work stopped for me on Friday evening, we took a nighttime walking tour of old town Geneva. Here is a plaza down near the lake that we liked because of the funky lights built into the ground. The next morning we met a van at the airport and arrived at Chamonix before lunch.

The inn was up a very steep hill from Chamonix proper. The town and valley is at around 3,000 feet, while the mountains surrounding it top out at over 12,000 feet. Glaciers tumbled down the sides of Mont Blanc as seen from the balcony of our room. We had arranged for "half board" at the inn, which meant we had a delicious formal French dinner from chef Henri every evening (which must not start before 7:30!), and breakfast in the morning.

The main ski area a short walk away from the inn was Le Brevent. Most of it sat on the shoulder of the mountain, in the sunshine at 6-8000 feet facing Mont Blanc. You took a cable car up to get to the starting point. You could go on intermediate runs linked to another ski area (La Flegere) by another cable car, which I did one day. Dara stuck to the blue intermediate runs, while I also took excursions on what they call the "red runs," which are not quite the killer runs, but were a challenge.

On Tuesday we took a couple of cable cars up to the Aiguille du Midi. At the 12,500 foot summit, you can look down on Chamonix and the ski area we had been on (which is below the first ridge line behind Dara). We were light-headed at the top and even had a tough time navigating the staircases. The idea I was going to jump off at this height and take on four hours of snowboarding down a glacier was a bit of a joke after seeing the place in person.

Wednesday was a short day snowboarding for me, meeting Dara down in the town. Thursday was our travel day on three different trains to Paris, including the famous TGV high speed train into Gare de Lyon. I spent much of my time examining the train bathrooms rather than the scenery (an affliction I passed on to Dara for the flight back on Saturday.) However, we had an action packed tourism day in Paris on Friday. We took a tour bus around town seeing the various neighborhoods, and a boat to Isle de la Cite to see Notre Dame. We spent the afternoon enjoying impressionist paintings from Monet, Van Gogh, and the rest of that gang at the beautiful Musee d'Orsee. After escaping uninjured from a fender bender in the taxi on the way, we went up the Eiffel Tower in a snowstorm at night. The next morning started at 4AM to get back home and reality.

I posted all the pictures on Flickr, with titles to tell you what they are if you're interested.

Italian Superbowl

I read 2 books recently that have had a strange effect on me, neither book was particularly good in fact they both were pretty boring and predictable. One was the mafia thriller Prizzis Honer the other was the new paperback by John Grism The Broker. The common thread in both books was the colorfull and detailed descriptions of the Italian cuisine the characters all enjoyed. I found myself looking forward to their next meal more than the actual story. I was hoping for one last dinner before Vito Prizzi got hit, and I new that stupid broker wouldn't leave Italy before lunch. In both books I found myself more interested in what wine they were going to have than the resolution to any of their conflicts. That damn food sounded so good I may have gained a couple of pounds reading. Inspired by those wonderfull meals I have decided to take a stab at whipping up some Italian cuisine of my own, I bought a nice Italian cook book and plan to make my 1st attempt on superbowl sunday. The menu is going to look something like this, depending on available ingredients; Antipasti-Panzanella, then a pasta butternut squash Ravioli, followed by the main course of Brasato al Borolo. I hope to have it prepared and eaten by gametime so I can enjoy the game. By the way I am picking Pittsburg in a 24 17 victory over Seattle.