And so the vacation begins

February 29th, 2008 • chatter

I’m now starting a long overdue vacation and I don’t have to worry about work for 9 whole days. It’s soooooooooo marvelous. I may not post, I’ll be having too much fun building a new office desk and a few other build projects. Can’t WAIT.

Witnessing “Reasons For Hope”

February 28th, 2008 • chatter

Today, Dr. Jane Goodall gave her talk Reasons For Hope at FAU’s Arena — which incidentally, isn’t much of an arena — and it was a great experience. The talk about an hour long with nearly 2,000 in attendance. I’m guessing at the attendance but they were still packing people in when there was already 1600 in the sort of packed gym. She talked about her work in the Gombe Park, Tanzania, her work with Dr. Leakey — yes, that Dr. Leakey — and her efforts in environmentalism and sustainable living. Overall, the talk was moving and rather motivational. I did applaud her with tears in my eyes over her stories that the related to us. Truly, I can’t describe this in words. I’ve watched and listened to this woman since I was a kid, old enough to know what a monkey or gorilla or a chimp was. Sadly, I couldn’t stay for the book signing for different reasons.

We managed to snag a few up close shots here.

Mid-terms are nearly done!

February 25th, 2008 • chatter, education

I’ve just finished up a rough/not-so-rough draft of my mid-term for ANT4930-009 Anthropology of Islam. All I can say is that Professor Keshodkar certainly made us write a fairly daunting paper in just one week when we had a considerably less intense ethnographic paper due just two weeks ago. I really wish he would have switched the two around as our mid-term paper definitely divulges into topics that need more than a week’s worth of research and writing whereas the past ethnography based on Geertz’s work in Morocco and Indonesia did not need 4 weeks of research to write. It could have easily encompassed a week for the mid-term as most of the class did the paper in a few days, those extra 3 weeks were essentially wasted in retrospect. But this mid-term was too heavy for 7 days, far too heavy.

Well, at least it’s done until I can look it over with fresh eyes in the morning and make necessary revisions, especially since I have a hanging sentence at the end! Argh!

Woohoo, free scholar access to African digital library!

February 22nd, 2008 • 4 comments chatter

I was checking some stuff on JSTOR tonight for my mid term that I’ll be writing this weekend only to find out something pretty awesome: they’re offering free access to Aluka until late March! That’s pretty sweet unfettered access to an entire library dedicated to Africa. This comes at a good time since I’m basing part of my ANT4930 mid term on Moroccan Islam (mostly because I still have my library books from my last paper about Moroccan Islam). And now that my girlfriend isn’t leaving town for the weekend, I’ve got to make sure that I actually set aside time to get this thing done. I just wish my professor would answer my email so I can get this thing rolling and get it over with already!

I’ve majorly slacked on most of my feeds this week but didn’t pass up this nice insight from Gideon about new atheists and their age old rhetoric. As an academic non-theist, I like the point he’s making. All the hub bub people like Dawkins or Hitchens make, they’re beating a dead horse. A very dead horse. Many young atheists clamor to these guys as if they’re saying something new but really, people have been saying it for centuries but now it’s new again. I’m sure some atheists that’ll read this will wonder how I can say I’m an atheist, which I never do, and then decry all the new atheist punters. They’ll say something new and groundbreaking right around the same time that Christianity does or Islam does, which is to say more than likely never. While I wholly agree with what Dawkins or anyone else says about religion, I’m not out there solely to drum up controversy or pound the pavement against religionists like they seem to be. I caught some flak a few months ago for saying Muslims should be respected — especially the radical fundie ones — while saying I’m non-theistic and it’s some how the antithesis of atheism to respect religious people. I must not have gotten the memo from the non-believers HQ on that one. It’s easy to be respectful to believers and non-believers alike, they’re people just like you and me. I just some people just don’t see it that way. I guess being a non-believer in the religious studies kind of puts on you on the fringe of a number of social orders since it’s easy to give the incorrect perception of your position.

Oh noes plz wathc otu!

February 14th, 2008 • chatter

I hope I don’t hit them with my invisible bike, resulting in…

Some tasty kale chips

February 13th, 2008 • 2 comments chatter

CIMG6417, originally uploaded by tehbizz.

I’ve been looking for snack foods lately that aren’t chocolate and I happened upon a recipe for kale chips from 28cooks. Very tasty stuff! They’re thin and wafer-y but have enough crunch to remind you of a potato chips. Instead of apple cider vinegar, we used red wine vinegar. I found rubbing the oil/vinegar mix onto the kale itself actually more evenly spread it than tossing alone did.

We used three large kale leaves to make about 40 or so chips and promptly ate them within minutes. I’ve still got another 3 leaves left so I may make some more tonight or just wait until tomorrow to make a batch. I highly suggest trying them.

Smash Lab sucks hard, VP of Discovery apparently agrees

February 13th, 2008 • 5 comments chatter

So some Veep of Discovery Communications got air that their “science” show Smash Lab sucks a big one and wrote an open letter to Discovery Channel viewers on “what to do” with the show. Everyone has the same idea: can it. I watched the first episode, and only the first one, it was truly abysmal. No science, casting call actors, stupid experiments (“Hey, let’s hurricane proof a house! But we have to make sure that it’s NOT built to Florida state building code for hurricanes because it has to fall down”), quick cut editing and (mis)direction. It reminds me of another piece of crap show they have called Invention Nation.

They hired three “hack mechanics” (read engineering students who need work) to travel around the nation looking for green oriented inventions. The problem with this show is, again, they hired people with zero personality like on Smash Lab. The three hosts go to each interview location and practically show no interest in what’s being shown except for the made-from-algae syngas powered remote controlled car. I think they liked that because it was a simple toy. I think the show would do better with a Mike Rowe-esque host — or hosts — who would actually care about what’s being presented. It’s a very hard pill to swallow, I know. I enjoy the technology presented but the hosts simply kill the show altogether. When introduced to “green roofing” in Chicago, it’s as if they just wanted to talk to the company rep because she was fairly attractive. I don’t think they realized they were talking about putting plants on roofs.

I hope that Discovery Green doesn’t suck this hard when they launch it later this year. Since Discovery Communications turned The History Channel into The Boogieman Channel, I’m losing faith in them.

I’m trying to act shocked, really.

February 11th, 2008 • idiocy

This “reporter” thinks girls shouldn’t go to college:

I completely agree, you don’t need to go to college because you already duped some boneheaded editor-in-chief to hire you. You have a job making a mockery of yourself which should give you enough to write about until you marry that rich guy and then he divorces you. Of course, he went to college and realized that he should get a pre-nuptial and the divorce leaves you with nothing.

Via Mindful Ink

The paper, it’s done! Sort of.

February 11th, 2008 • chatter

I’ve finally gotten my first essay of the year done and all that’s left is to proof it which my girlfriend and I will do tomorrow morning. It’s not the greatest thing I’ve ever written but some of the source material was scattered in terms of writing. I’ve learned less about the supposed similarities in Moroccan and Indonesian Islam but I sure as hell learned about a ton of differences. I’ve still got some stuff to read for tomorrow but hopefully I can squeak by with not reading, I don’t think I can absorb anything more this weekend.

I also have some home design projects coming up the pike which I hope to finish during Spring Break (when I hope to take the week off from work!). I’m fixing up most of my home office but I still can’t find a chair that is really comfortable and my Ayreon-wannabe chair is now no longer acceptable fodder for me to sit in every day. The redesign of the office should be pretty cool but if not, it’ll at least be extremely functional. This means I’m also going to be hopefully tossing out some old PCs that I no longer need but I cannot find a place around here to recycle them at which really sucks. There’s so much junk we’re going to be getting rid of and finding appropriate places to take it is hard since most people in Boca are anti-recycling. Displeased by this, I need an outlet to get this changed.

Best interpretation of scare tactics. Ever. For real.

February 9th, 2008 • chatter

My friend Drake just IMed me the funniest link I’ve seen in a very long time. Truly funny. In fact, I’m still laughing.

Safenow.org

In case of emergency, the parking brake may be used as an adult novelty item.