Category Archives: Uncategorized

I took this picture coming down the Mr. Rose Highway on July 5th (click to embiggen)

Yes, that’s snow under the trees.

The cause of all the nation’s recent problems has been identified. It’s so obvious when you think about it. How could we not have realized it?

It looks like neuroscientists have discovered what social scientists and epidemiologists have know for a long time. It’s been well established that urban populations suffer from certain mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, at a higher rate than rural populations. Now a German team has used MRI scanning to investigate differences in brain activity between urban and rural dwellers. In short, college students from the city showed a significantly greater response to social stress than kids from the country.

The finding were published in Nature, and also reported on the journal’s web site.

The 1812 Overture with nuclear explosions:

Your argument is invalid.

It’s about time the CDC finally started taking this threat seriously.

…if I think this is the funniest video I’ve seen in a long, long time? (Warning: language)

In the unlikely event that anybody reading this blog missed the news, President Obama announced this evening that Osama bin Laden has been killed. I don’t know how much effect this will have on anti-American terrorism. I’ve long had the impression that bin Laden had become little more than a figurehead since the invasion of Afghanistan. Still, he was an unrepentant mass murderer, and I’m happy that he’s dead.

For anybody wondering why it’s a good idea to pay attention in school, a man in Maryland has successfully challenged speed camera tickets by analyzing the photos produced by those cameras. Five times.

Automated ticketing devices like speed and red light cameras are typically operated by private companies, who are paid a percentage of the fines. Apparently, I’m the only person who thinks this might produce a conflict of interest.

Catherine and I have been out of town for the past few days, combining a business trip with a mini-vacation. We spent this past weekend in Monterey, revisiting some of our favorite restaurants.

Amidst everything else, I’ve also started reading Lynn H. Gamble’s new book on the Chumash. I’ve had somewhat of an interest in Chumash prehistory since long before I ever thought of becoming an archaeologist. My mother and grandfather both grew up in Santa Barbara, and I lived there myself as a teenager. I was a regular visitor at both the mission and the natural history museum (I hadn’t been drawn into archaeology yet, but I’ve been a science geek my entire life). I’ve even been told that a distant relative of mine is buried in the cemetery at the mission, although I don’t know who they were. And on top of everything else, one of the first anthropology classes I ever took was taught by Tom Blackburn, who assigned December’s Child as one of the textbooks.

I’ve only just started Gamble’s book, but it appears that one of her main concerns is the establishment and maintenance of political power by Chumash chiefs. At the SAA conference she gave a fascinating talk comparing Patwin and Chumash chieftainship, and I’m looking forward to finding out what she has to say on the subject in this book.

Yesterday my wife and I went out to a restaurant we both like for brunch. As I pulled in to park, I noticed that the car next to us, which had also just arrived, had the license plate: ENT CV6. An older couple was getting out, and I asked the gentleman if he had served aboard the USS Enterprise. He confirmed that he had, and we talked for a few minutes before going inside. I mentioned that my wife’s grandfather had been the supply officer aboard the USS Hornet, and the man told us he had watched the Doolittle Raid taking off.

A little later, while we were eating, he handed me a printed card with his name and dates of service, along with some basic facts about the history of the ship. The fact that he had such a card ready to give out, as well as the license plate, give an indication of how proud this man was to have served. Rightly so, in my opinion. I won’t post the man’s name here, out of respect for his privacy, but I am very glad that I had the opportunity to meet him.