Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Briefing II
You've been dreaming, have you?
I am dreaming now.
No, you are awake now. You are talking to me.
This is no different. A dream, like that.
Oh yes it is different. This is reality. The other is a dream.
How do you know?
You'll have to take my word for it, I'm afraid.
If I did have to, I'd be afraid.
--Doris Lessing, Briefing For a Descent Into Hell, 1971
I am dreaming now.
No, you are awake now. You are talking to me.
This is no different. A dream, like that.
Oh yes it is different. This is reality. The other is a dream.
How do you know?
You'll have to take my word for it, I'm afraid.
If I did have to, I'd be afraid.
--Doris Lessing, Briefing For a Descent Into Hell, 1971
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Abraham at Gettysburg
"From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"The Constitution of France (under the present Fifth Republic) states that the principle of the Republic of France is 'gouvernement du peuple, par le peuple et pour le peuple' ('government of the people, by the people, and for the people,') a literal translation of Lincoln's words."
"The Constitution of France (under the present Fifth Republic) states that the principle of the Republic of France is 'gouvernement du peuple, par le peuple et pour le peuple' ('government of the people, by the people, and for the people,') a literal translation of Lincoln's words."
Monday, November 17, 2008
“No.”
I spoke to Sylvia. “Do you think this is a good life?” The table held apples, books, long-playing records. She looked up. “No.”
--Donald Barthelme, “The Indian Uprising,” 1968
--Donald Barthelme, “The Indian Uprising,” 1968
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
small problem
"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get them going again. I trust you are not in too much distress."
--Eric Moody, captain of British Airways Flight 9
--Eric Moody, captain of British Airways Flight 9
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Sanity
The implications of philosophical truth are so horrifying that the human mind cannot comprehend them and remain sane.
www.TheSteppe.com
www.TheSteppe.com
Friday, November 07, 2008
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
The Times of India
"What does a possible Obama victory mean for America and the rest of the world (and judging by the worldwide interest and the number of foreign journalists here, it's the only story for the day)?
"Well, for one, it is expected to restore faith and trust in a more engaged and consensual United States as against the perception of the Bush Republican administration as a mostly unilateral regime. The election of a black minority candidate to the highest office in the world's most powerful and advanced democracy will also be seen as the final vindication that America can overcome racial prejudice.
"It still boggles the imagination -- that could soon be reality -- that the 44th US president may be an African-American son of a Kenyan exchange student."
--The Times of India
"Well, for one, it is expected to restore faith and trust in a more engaged and consensual United States as against the perception of the Bush Republican administration as a mostly unilateral regime. The election of a black minority candidate to the highest office in the world's most powerful and advanced democracy will also be seen as the final vindication that America can overcome racial prejudice.
"It still boggles the imagination -- that could soon be reality -- that the 44th US president may be an African-American son of a Kenyan exchange student."
--The Times of India
The London Times
“We support Obama not as a person but as a new phenomenon,” Denis Twahika, a student, said. “We look at America as a continent that disenfranchised Africa. If Obama is the president, then when I meet an American I meet a brother. That white-black thing, we become one.”
--The Times, UK
--The Times, UK
Did you vote?
"In every election, many people grapple with the nagging suspicion their vote doesn't count.... They are wrong. In fact, our democracy depends on every citizen recognizing the value of his or her vote.
"And here is the value of that vote. In the most recent presidential election 105,360,260 people cast ballots. That means each person's vote counted .000000949%.... So we can agree, your vote counts. It counts .000000949%."
--Stephen Colbert, "Of Course Your Vote Counts!," America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction, 2004
"And here is the value of that vote. In the most recent presidential election 105,360,260 people cast ballots. That means each person's vote counted .000000949%.... So we can agree, your vote counts. It counts .000000949%."
--Stephen Colbert, "Of Course Your Vote Counts!," America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction, 2004
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Nov 2
"All Souls’ Day.
The 2nd of November, so called because the Roman Catholics on that day seek by prayer and almsgiving to alleviate the sufferings of souls in purgatory. It was first instituted in the monastery of Clugny, in 993.
"According to tradition, a pilgrim, returning from the Holy Land, was compelled by a storm to land on a rocky island, where he found a hermit, who told him that among the cliffs of the island was an opening into the infernal regions through which huge flames ascended, and where the groans of the tormented were distinctly audible. The pilgrim told Odilo, abbot of Clugny, of this; and the abbot appointed the day following, which was November 2nd, to be set apart for the benefit of souls in purgatory."
--E. Cobham Brewer, Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1898 edition "Revised, Corrected and Enlarged"
The 2nd of November, so called because the Roman Catholics on that day seek by prayer and almsgiving to alleviate the sufferings of souls in purgatory. It was first instituted in the monastery of Clugny, in 993.
"According to tradition, a pilgrim, returning from the Holy Land, was compelled by a storm to land on a rocky island, where he found a hermit, who told him that among the cliffs of the island was an opening into the infernal regions through which huge flames ascended, and where the groans of the tormented were distinctly audible. The pilgrim told Odilo, abbot of Clugny, of this; and the abbot appointed the day following, which was November 2nd, to be set apart for the benefit of souls in purgatory."
--E. Cobham Brewer, Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1898 edition "Revised, Corrected and Enlarged"
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Nov 1
"All Hallow’s Day (November 1st).
The French call it Toussaint, which we have translated All Saints’ Day. Hallowmas is All-Saints’ festival. (Anglo-Saxon, hálig, but Hálig-mónáth was September, and Hálig-dœg was simply a Holy-day.)"
"All Saints
or All Hallows. In 610 the Pope of Rome ordered that the heathen Pantheon should be converted into a Christian church, and dedicated to the honour of all martyrs. The festival of All Saints was first held on May 1st, but in the year 834 it was changed to November 1st. 'Hallows' is from the Anglo-Saxon hálig (holy)."
--E. Cobham Brewer, Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1898 edition "Revised, Corrected and Enlarged"
The French call it Toussaint, which we have translated All Saints’ Day. Hallowmas is All-Saints’ festival. (Anglo-Saxon, hálig, but Hálig-mónáth was September, and Hálig-dœg was simply a Holy-day.)"
"All Saints
or All Hallows. In 610 the Pope of Rome ordered that the heathen Pantheon should be converted into a Christian church, and dedicated to the honour of all martyrs. The festival of All Saints was first held on May 1st, but in the year 834 it was changed to November 1st. 'Hallows' is from the Anglo-Saxon hálig (holy)."
--E. Cobham Brewer, Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1898 edition "Revised, Corrected and Enlarged"
Friday, October 31, 2008
Oct 31
"All Hallows’ Eve.
The Scotch tradition is, that those born on All Hallows’ Eve have the gift of double sight, and commanding powers over spirits."
"Hallowe’en (October 31st),
according to Scotch superstition, is the time when witches, devils, fairies, and other imps of earth and air hold annual holiday."
--E. Cobham Brewer, Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1898 edition "Revised, Corrected and Enlarged"
The Scotch tradition is, that those born on All Hallows’ Eve have the gift of double sight, and commanding powers over spirits."
"Hallowe’en (October 31st),
according to Scotch superstition, is the time when witches, devils, fairies, and other imps of earth and air hold annual holiday."
--E. Cobham Brewer, Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1898 edition "Revised, Corrected and Enlarged"
Monday, October 27, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Western preference
"The narratives of Buddhism in the United States have ignored the contribution and presence of Mongols. While 'Tibetan' Buddhism remains, arguably, the most visible and popular type of Buddhism in North America, how and why it has achieved this status has not been sufficiently queried.... By taking into account the central role of race and how it is defined and manipulated in U.S. immigration and naturalization law, the experience of Kalmyk Mongol Buddhist immigrants in the 1950s can be recovered. Tracing the life and experience of the Mongol 'Living Buddha' within the context of the west's reception of Buddhism reveals a preference for orientalist versions of Asian religions at the expense of Asian American racial and ethnic identities."
--abstract of "Mongols or Mongolians? And the Strange Career of the 'Living Buddha' in America" by Rudiger Busto
--abstract of "Mongols or Mongolians? And the Strange Career of the 'Living Buddha' in America" by Rudiger Busto
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Dakota War of 1862
"From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"When the tribesmen appealed to Andrew J. Myrick to allow them to take food on credit, he said, 'So far as I am concerned, if they are hungry, let them eat grass or their own dung.' He made this retort while involved in a confrontation between Dakota tribesmen, the United States government, and other traders....
"Myrick was killed on the second day of fighting at the Battle of Lower Sioux Agency as Dakota warriors took revenge at the agency settlement. When his body was found days later, it was discovered that grass had been stuffed in his mouth."
"When the tribesmen appealed to Andrew J. Myrick to allow them to take food on credit, he said, 'So far as I am concerned, if they are hungry, let them eat grass or their own dung.' He made this retort while involved in a confrontation between Dakota tribesmen, the United States government, and other traders....
"Myrick was killed on the second day of fighting at the Battle of Lower Sioux Agency as Dakota warriors took revenge at the agency settlement. When his body was found days later, it was discovered that grass had been stuffed in his mouth."
Sunday, October 19, 2008
the most capricious zephyr
"Faith, I know not where I wander. Methinks the most capricious zephyr hath more design than I. But lo: do not detain me, for I am resolved to quit this place forthwith."
--Bill Watterson, The Days Are Just Packed
--Bill Watterson, The Days Are Just Packed
Friday, October 17, 2008
"Stayin' Alive," CPR
"'Stayin' Alive' might be more true to its name than the Bee Gees ever could have guessed: At 103 beats per minute, the old disco song has almost the perfect rhythm to help jump-start a stopped heart.
"In a small but intriguing study from the University of Illinois medical school, doctors and students maintained close to the ideal number of chest compressions doing CPR while listening to the catchy, sung-in-falsetto tune from the 1977 movie 'Saturday Night Fever.'
"The American Heart Association recommends 100 chest compressions per minute, far more than most people realize, study author Dr. David Matlock of the school's Peoria, Illinois, campus said Thursday....
"It turns out the American Heart Association has been using the song as a training tip for CPR instructors for about two years.
"They learned of it from a physician 'who sort of hit upon this as a training tool,' said association spokesman Dr. Vinay Nadkarni of the University of Pennsylvania.
"He said he was not aware of any previous studies that tested the song.
"But Nadkarni said he has seen 'Stayin' Alive' work wonders in classes where students were having trouble keeping the right beat while practicing on mannequins. When he turned on the song, 'all of a sudden, within just a few seconds, they get it right on the dot.'
"'I don't know how the Bee Gees knew this,' Nadkarni said. 'They probably didn't. But they just hit upon this natural rhythm that was very catchy, very popular, that helps us do the right thing.'
"Dr. Matthew Gilbert, a 28-year-old medical resident, was among participants in the University of Illinois study this past spring. Since then, he said, he has revived real patients by keeping the song in his head while doing CPR.
"Gilbert said he was surprised the song worked as well as it did.
"'I was a little worried because I've been told that I have a complete lack of rhythm,' he said. Also, Gilbert said he's not really a disco fan.
"He does happen to like a certain Queen song with a similar beat.
"'I heard a rumor that "Another One Bites the Dust" works also, but it didn't seem quite as appropriate,' Gilbert said."
--CNN
"In a small but intriguing study from the University of Illinois medical school, doctors and students maintained close to the ideal number of chest compressions doing CPR while listening to the catchy, sung-in-falsetto tune from the 1977 movie 'Saturday Night Fever.'
"The American Heart Association recommends 100 chest compressions per minute, far more than most people realize, study author Dr. David Matlock of the school's Peoria, Illinois, campus said Thursday....
"It turns out the American Heart Association has been using the song as a training tip for CPR instructors for about two years.
"They learned of it from a physician 'who sort of hit upon this as a training tool,' said association spokesman Dr. Vinay Nadkarni of the University of Pennsylvania.
"He said he was not aware of any previous studies that tested the song.
"But Nadkarni said he has seen 'Stayin' Alive' work wonders in classes where students were having trouble keeping the right beat while practicing on mannequins. When he turned on the song, 'all of a sudden, within just a few seconds, they get it right on the dot.'
"'I don't know how the Bee Gees knew this,' Nadkarni said. 'They probably didn't. But they just hit upon this natural rhythm that was very catchy, very popular, that helps us do the right thing.'
"Dr. Matthew Gilbert, a 28-year-old medical resident, was among participants in the University of Illinois study this past spring. Since then, he said, he has revived real patients by keeping the song in his head while doing CPR.
"Gilbert said he was surprised the song worked as well as it did.
"'I was a little worried because I've been told that I have a complete lack of rhythm,' he said. Also, Gilbert said he's not really a disco fan.
"He does happen to like a certain Queen song with a similar beat.
"'I heard a rumor that "Another One Bites the Dust" works also, but it didn't seem quite as appropriate,' Gilbert said."
--CNN
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Biology: Polydactyl cat
"From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Polydactyly is a congenital abnormality, usually genetically inherited as an autosomal dominant trait with incomplete penetrance. Polydactyly is not life-threatening and usually not even debilitating to a cat. Some polydactyl kittens initially have more difficulty in learning to walk and climb than normal animals. However in some cases it appears to improve the dexterity of the animal. For example, a common variation of polydactyly with six toes on the front paws, with two opposing digits on each, (comparable in use to human thumbs) enables the cat to learn and perform feats of manual dexterity generally not observed in non-polydactyl cats, such as opening latches or catching objects with a single paw."
"Polydactyly is a congenital abnormality, usually genetically inherited as an autosomal dominant trait with incomplete penetrance. Polydactyly is not life-threatening and usually not even debilitating to a cat. Some polydactyl kittens initially have more difficulty in learning to walk and climb than normal animals. However in some cases it appears to improve the dexterity of the animal. For example, a common variation of polydactyly with six toes on the front paws, with two opposing digits on each, (comparable in use to human thumbs) enables the cat to learn and perform feats of manual dexterity generally not observed in non-polydactyl cats, such as opening latches or catching objects with a single paw."
Briefing
"When a child with his soul just making itself felt, or a grownup who has never thought of anything before but animal thoughts, or an adolescent in love, or an old person just confronted with death, or even a philosopher or a star-measurer—when any of these, or you or I ask ourselves, with all the weight of our lives behind the question, What am I? What is this Time? What is the evidence for a Time that is not mortal as a leaf in autumn, then the answer is, That which asks the question is out of the world’s time . . ."
--Doris Lessing, Briefing For a Descent Into Hell, 1971
--Doris Lessing, Briefing For a Descent Into Hell, 1971
The Flying Fish
It’s fine that nature at least permits a certain fish to fly
with brazen expertise. Every such ascent
is a consolation to the rule, a reprieve
from universal necessity, a gift
more magnanimous than need be, for the world to be world.
--Wislawa Szymborska, “Thomas Mann,” translated by Magnus J. Krynski and Robert A. Maguire
with brazen expertise. Every such ascent
is a consolation to the rule, a reprieve
from universal necessity, a gift
more magnanimous than need be, for the world to be world.
--Wislawa Szymborska, “Thomas Mann,” translated by Magnus J. Krynski and Robert A. Maguire
Thursday, October 09, 2008
seen around the world
"The American invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003, aided and abetted by the British, was seen around the world as a war without any basis in international law, and as a war that could not be described as just or moral."
--Michael S. Northcott, Angel Directs the Storm: Apocalyptic Religion and American Empire, 2004
--Michael S. Northcott, Angel Directs the Storm: Apocalyptic Religion and American Empire, 2004
Friday, September 26, 2008
two pieces of the same thing
And Ma went on, “They’s a time of change, an’ when that comes, dyin’ is a piece of all dyin’, and bearin’ is a piece of all bearin’, an’ bearin’ an’ dyin’ is two pieces of the same thing. An’ then things ain’t lonely any more. An’ then a hurt don’t hurt so bad, ’cause it ain’t a lonely hurt no more, Rosasharn. I wisht I could tell you so you’d know, but I can’t.” And her voice was so soft, so full of love, that tears crowded into Rose of Sharon’s eyes, and flowed over her eyes and blinded her.
--John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath, 1939
--John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath, 1939
Monday, September 22, 2008
So Blown Apart
"The novel closes on the eve of the dedication of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as the Plumes reflect on the significance of a memorial built to house remains so blown apart by modern war machines that they can never be put back together in an identifiable form..."
--Amazon book description of the novel Plumes by Laurence Stallings
--Amazon book description of the novel Plumes by Laurence Stallings
We just stopped fighting.
"It was early in the Vietnam War, and an American platoon was hunkered down in some rice paddies, in the heat of a firefight with the Vietcong. Suddenly a line of six monks started walking along the elevated berms that separated paddy from paddy. Perfectly calm and poised, the monks walked directly toward the line of fire.
"'They didn’t look right, they didn’t look left. They walked straight through,' recalls David Busch, one of the American soldiers. 'It was really strange, because nobody shot at ’em. And after they walked over the berm, suddenly all the fight was out of me. It just didn’t feel like I wanted to do this anymore, at least not that day. It must have been that way for everybody, because everybody quit. We just stopped fighting.'"
--Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, 1995
"'They didn’t look right, they didn’t look left. They walked straight through,' recalls David Busch, one of the American soldiers. 'It was really strange, because nobody shot at ’em. And after they walked over the berm, suddenly all the fight was out of me. It just didn’t feel like I wanted to do this anymore, at least not that day. It must have been that way for everybody, because everybody quit. We just stopped fighting.'"
--Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, 1995
Saturday, September 20, 2008
David Foster Wallace Has Killed Himself
"If wealth of talent, steady productivity (eight books of fiction and nonfiction), a MacArthur grant, and adulation from fans, critics and peers are not enough to make life's isolation bearable, what hope is there for the rest of us scribblers?"
--Richard B. Woodward, The Wall Street Journal
--Richard B. Woodward, The Wall Street Journal
Monday, September 15, 2008
Our nada who art in nada
"The Nothing is a relentless monotony, unbroken by joy or sorrow. It is unending emptiness without comfort or companionship of man or God. It is the senselessness of each heart-beat that is just like the last and refuses to give in to death."
--Elizabeth S. Wall, "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway"
--Elizabeth S. Wall, "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway"
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Books
Today at 7th Street Books in central San Jose, I traded a copy of The Steppe and a copy of The Shadow of the Wind, an uninteresting Spanish novel, for some books that I have been planning to read: Greene’s Our Man in Havana, a Conrad volume that includes The Secret Sharer and Heart of Darkness, Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, and a novel that I discovered in the bookstore and that I am kind of excited over: Briefing For a Descent Into Hell by Doris Lessing. Lessing, a British writer, is familiar to me for some reason, but the cover copy sold me: “Doris Lessing’s brilliant exploration of a mind beyond madness. . . We are inside the mind of Professor Charles Watkins. He is doomed to spin endlessly on a raft in the currents of the Atlantic. He makes a landfall on a tropical shore. He discovers a ruined stone city, participates, moon-dazed, in bloody rituals in the paradisal forest, is caught in the swirling, savage war of the Rat-dogs, is borne on the back of the lordly White Bird across the sea of the dead. Charles Watkins is having a mental breakdown. Or is he?” And the cover art features undulating bare-breasted women.
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Provocative Chinese World Map
A world map at "Supplier Dynasty China Club," a portal website for Chinese goods, depicting a Chinese claim over Mongolia... and strangely not over Taiwan.
Monday, September 01, 2008
Lyrical II
Old Blind Dogs
So come all ye tramps and hawker lads
I'll tell to ye a roving tale of things that I ha' seen
Guy Clark
I have been to Fort Worth
I have been to Spain
I have been too proud
To come in out of the rain
Tracy Lawrence
She was heading nowhere
I was going her way
Johnny Cash
I met her accidentally in St. Paul, Minnesota
Battlefield Band
You can bide your time
till your time runs out
So take this as fair warning
Rodney Crowell
Many a long and lonesome highway
Lie before us as we go
Stroke 9
How many people wanna kick some ass?
I would if I could
but I’m really just a
sensitive artist
Ricky Skaggs
The highway called when I was young
Told me lies of things to come
Keith Whitley
And the oldest friend I’ve got I met today
Better Than Ezra
Sleeping is easy
I used to lay in bed for hours
Counting Crows
You can never escape, you can only move south down the coast
James Taylor
Bridges are for burning
Alien Ant Farm
I watch you drive your stupid car
You go away
Gaelic Storm
I got the sky
I got the road
I got the sky
The world is my home
Bloodhound Gang
I’m the root of all that’s evil
Yeah, but you can call me “Cookie”
George Strait
She said, “Don’t bother coming home
By the time you get here I’ll be long gone
There’s somebody new and he sure ain’t no rodeo man”
He said, “I’m sorry it’s come down to this
There’s so much about you that I’m going to miss
But it’s all right, Baby, if I hurry I can still make Cheyenne”
So come all ye tramps and hawker lads
I'll tell to ye a roving tale of things that I ha' seen
Guy Clark
I have been to Fort Worth
I have been to Spain
I have been too proud
To come in out of the rain
Tracy Lawrence
She was heading nowhere
I was going her way
Johnny Cash
I met her accidentally in St. Paul, Minnesota
Battlefield Band
You can bide your time
till your time runs out
So take this as fair warning
Rodney Crowell
Many a long and lonesome highway
Lie before us as we go
Stroke 9
How many people wanna kick some ass?
I would if I could
but I’m really just a
sensitive artist
Ricky Skaggs
The highway called when I was young
Told me lies of things to come
Keith Whitley
And the oldest friend I’ve got I met today
Better Than Ezra
Sleeping is easy
I used to lay in bed for hours
Counting Crows
You can never escape, you can only move south down the coast
James Taylor
Bridges are for burning
Alien Ant Farm
I watch you drive your stupid car
You go away
Gaelic Storm
I got the sky
I got the road
I got the sky
The world is my home
Bloodhound Gang
I’m the root of all that’s evil
Yeah, but you can call me “Cookie”
George Strait
She said, “Don’t bother coming home
By the time you get here I’ll be long gone
There’s somebody new and he sure ain’t no rodeo man”
He said, “I’m sorry it’s come down to this
There’s so much about you that I’m going to miss
But it’s all right, Baby, if I hurry I can still make Cheyenne”
Friday, August 29, 2008
The Impossibility of Knowledge
"A Frenchman is self-assured because he regards himself personally both in mind and body as irresistibly attractive to men and women. An Englishman is self-assured as being a citizen of the best-organized state in the world and therefore, as an Englishman, always knows what he should do and knows that all he does as an Englishman is undoubtedly correct. An Italian is self-assured because he is excitable and easily forgets himself and other people. A Russian is self-assured just because he knows nothing and does not want to know anything, since he does not believe that anything can be known."
--Leo Tolstoy
--Leo Tolstoy
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
The Whaleships of *Moby-Dick*
Eliza, presumably of Nantucket - Chapter 7 The Chapel
Devil-Dam, presumably of Nantucket - Chapter 16 The Ship
Tit-bit, presumably of Nantucket - Chapter 16 The Ship
Pequod, of Nantucket - Chapter 16 The Ship
Goney (Albatross), of Nantucket - Chapter 52 The Albatross
Town-Ho, of Nantucket - Chapter 54 The Town-Ho's Story
Jeroboam, of Nantucket - Chapter 71 The Jeroboam's Story
Jungfrau (Virgin), of Bremen - Chapter 81 The Pequod Meets the Virgin
Bouton de Rose (Rose-button, or Rose-bud), of France - Chapter 91 The Pequod Meets the Rose-Bud
Samuel Enderby, of London - Chapter 100 Leg and Arm. The Pequod, of Nantucket, Meets the Samuel Enderby, of London
Bachelor, of Nantucket - Chapter 115 The Pequod Meets the Bachelor
Rachel, presumably of Nantucket - Chapter 128 The Pequod Meets the Rachel
Delight, presumably of Nantucket - Chapter 131 The Pequod Meets the Delight
historical whaleships:
Jonas-in-the-Whale - Extracts; Chapter 55 Of the Monstrous Pictures of Whales
Essex, of Nantucket - Extracts; Chapter 45 The Affidavit
Globe, of Nantucket - Extracts
Commodore Preble - Extracts
Hobomack - Extracts
Glacier - Chapter 35 The Mast-Head
Union, of Nantucket - Chapter 45 The Affidavit
Pusie Hall, of England - Chapter 45 The Affidavit
Amelia, of England - Chapter 101 The Decanter
Rattler, of England - Chapter 101 The Decanter
Syren, of England - Chapter 101 The Decanter
Devil-Dam, presumably of Nantucket - Chapter 16 The Ship
Tit-bit, presumably of Nantucket - Chapter 16 The Ship
Pequod, of Nantucket - Chapter 16 The Ship
Goney (Albatross), of Nantucket - Chapter 52 The Albatross
Town-Ho, of Nantucket - Chapter 54 The Town-Ho's Story
Jeroboam, of Nantucket - Chapter 71 The Jeroboam's Story
Jungfrau (Virgin), of Bremen - Chapter 81 The Pequod Meets the Virgin
Bouton de Rose (Rose-button, or Rose-bud), of France - Chapter 91 The Pequod Meets the Rose-Bud
Samuel Enderby, of London - Chapter 100 Leg and Arm. The Pequod, of Nantucket, Meets the Samuel Enderby, of London
Bachelor, of Nantucket - Chapter 115 The Pequod Meets the Bachelor
Rachel, presumably of Nantucket - Chapter 128 The Pequod Meets the Rachel
Delight, presumably of Nantucket - Chapter 131 The Pequod Meets the Delight
historical whaleships:
Jonas-in-the-Whale - Extracts; Chapter 55 Of the Monstrous Pictures of Whales
Essex, of Nantucket - Extracts; Chapter 45 The Affidavit
Globe, of Nantucket - Extracts
Commodore Preble - Extracts
Hobomack - Extracts
Glacier - Chapter 35 The Mast-Head
Union, of Nantucket - Chapter 45 The Affidavit
Pusie Hall, of England - Chapter 45 The Affidavit
Amelia, of England - Chapter 101 The Decanter
Rattler, of England - Chapter 101 The Decanter
Syren, of England - Chapter 101 The Decanter
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Adventuria
Posted a big lot of old photos at the Adventuria blog. Here're some...
U.K., Bermudanautical archaeology field school
Radigan Neuhalfen
Russia, Kamchatka, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
Sea of Japan, Far Eastern coast of Russia
MongoliaRadigan Neuhalfen, self-portrait
Russia, Uralarchaeology dig
Turkey, Istanbul
Ukraine, Crimea, Black Sea
Russia, Siberia, Novosibirsk
Russia, Siberia, Novosibirsk
U.S.A., Illinoisarchaeology survey
Radigan Neuhalfen
U.S.A., Minnesota, Minneapolisarchaeology van
Mexico, Yucatanarchaeology course
U.S.A., Texas, San AntonioRadigan Neuhalfen
U.S.A., North Dakota
U.S.A., North DakotaSunday, August 17, 2008
Move Over, Batman
"#1. The Black Condor
"Do please sit down, because this one is a doozy. Little Richard Grey was born in Mongolia during a scientific expedition his parents were members of. The expedition was attacked by bandits and everyone died except for baby Richard, who was later found and raised by condors. If huge carrion eating birds don't know how to raise a baby, then who does?
"Not bad for a bird that doesn't even live in Mongolia, or anywhere near Asia for that matter.
"By the way, did we mention that the condors taught him how to fly? Yes, apparently being raised by birds means you can slap aerodynamics in the face.
"Richard only has the power to fly and possibly also the power to eat rotten dead things."
--Juan Arteaga, "The 7 Crappiest 'Super Heroes' in Comic Book History," Cracked.com
"Do please sit down, because this one is a doozy. Little Richard Grey was born in Mongolia during a scientific expedition his parents were members of. The expedition was attacked by bandits and everyone died except for baby Richard, who was later found and raised by condors. If huge carrion eating birds don't know how to raise a baby, then who does?
"Not bad for a bird that doesn't even live in Mongolia, or anywhere near Asia for that matter.
"By the way, did we mention that the condors taught him how to fly? Yes, apparently being raised by birds means you can slap aerodynamics in the face.
"Richard only has the power to fly and possibly also the power to eat rotten dead things."
--Juan Arteaga, "The 7 Crappiest 'Super Heroes' in Comic Book History," Cracked.com
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