Weather Down Under
Aboriginal weather knowledge. The Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology has a site which contains historical information about the Indigenous Weather Knowledge of the Australian natives, but also current weather information.
Cetacea
"The mammalian order Cetacea is divided into three suborders: (1) Oligocene to Recent Odontoceti or 'toothed whales'— living today; (2) Oligocene to Recent Mysticeti or 'baleen whales'— living today; and (3) older and more primitive Eocene Archaeoceti or 'archaic whales'— which evolved to give rise to odontocetes and mysticetes."
Spirited Away!
Spirited Away wins Best Animated Film at the Oscar ceremony tonight. A fabulous Studio Ghibli film that is, as director Hayao Miyazaki says, "For the people who used to be 10 years old, and the people who are going to be 10 years old." This win was greeted with great rejoicing around the house.
I am weak...
And the number one reason to break down and buy an X-Box from the Evil Empire: Wallace and Gromit vs. Feathers McGraw. I am so weak.
Vernal Equinox
"With the advance of knowledge these ceremonies [of spring sacrifice] either cease to be performed altogether or are kept up from force of habit long after the intention with which they were instituted has been forgotten. Thus fallen from their high estate, no longer regarded as solemn rites on the punctual performance of which the welfare and even the life of the community depend, they sink gradually to the level of simple pageants, mummeries, and pastimes, till in the final stage of degeneration they are wholly abandoned by older people, and, from having once been the most serious occupation of the sage, become at last the idle sport of children. It is in this final stage of decay that most of the old magical rites of our European forefathers linger on at the present day, and even from this their last retreat they are fast being swept away by the rising tide of those multitudinous forces, moral, intellectual, and social, which are bearing mankind onward to a new and unknown goal." (James Frazer, The Golden Bough)
Yet there are fires burning in Iraq tonight. A king is being removed. The cycle persists.
Something Completely Different
In case you're here for something completely different: a talking fish. Okay, so it is topical in a commentary kind of way.
Bad Day for the Easter Bunny
Kids, this is what happens when rabbits protest about war. Kmart doesn't like it when you try to stop shoppers from purchasing the Army of OneTM Easter Basket. Amy Hamilton-Thibert dropped in on the Astor Place Kmart to protest the replacement of chocolate bunnies in Easter baskets with military action figures and got herself hauled off to jail. Lovely world, innit? The Village Voice has the full story.
One Time Pad
Bruce Schneier's Crypto-gram newsletter comes out once a month and it usually takes me a full month to digest everything he talks about and references. I'm thinking about one-time pads a lot these days, and here is his discussion on them.
Trogdor!
Speaking of monsters, run from Trogdor the Burninator!
Squish!
The word "onomatopoeia" is just a fabulous word. Even better are some of the words that you get to use in the course of demonstrating onomatopoeia, like "squish" and "hypnagogia."
Monsters, Real and Fabricated
Some monsters aren't imaginary; they've got antecedents in the real world. Fragmentary remains found on Crete recently have been attributed to Deinotherium giganteum, which, roughly translated, means "huge terrible beast." An early ancestor of the elephant, Deinotherium stood 15 feet tall at the shoulder and had tusks over 4.5 feet long. Big-assed elephant. National Geographic has an educational article about the giant creature.
Speaking of large objects, one of the floats in the Rose Monday carnival parade held in Dusseldorf, Germany, on March 3rd, spoke of some parade official having a sense of humor. A picture of the float may be found here.
Gastlycrumb Tinies
Edward Gorrey's Gastlycrumb Tinies has found its way online. For those times when I'm not at home and need to reference just what happened to Basil or Xerxes or Zillah.
Where Did the Fantasy Go?
I found an Olivia DeBerardinis trading card stuffed in a copy of Jorge Luis Borges' Labyrinths today. The card was bookmarking the story entitled "The God's Script." One of the voyeuristic moments of used books is finding trinkets from the lives of other people when you acquire their books. You wonder if there is any significance to the item found and its placement in this book, on this page. Occasionally I'll even consider the idea of messages being passed through books in this fashion, coded transmissions which will only be useful to those who understand the placement of all the pieces. Like a message left on the front page of the newspaper by Yu Tsun for his masters. Occasionally, I'll wonder about these things.
This conjunction of items, though, makes me smile. This copy has been in my library for more than ten years. I don't think I've opened it since 1993. There. Girls, God, and fantastic literature: a snapshot of what was on my mind a decade ago.
Is That a Sniper In Your Easter Basket?
This Easter, kids get military action figures in their Easter baskets instead of chocolate rabbits. Not only are we supposed to pretend that we don't notice that this war isn't one that anyone but the greedy fuckers in our administration want, but we're supposed to be perpetuating the military mindset by giving our children chocolate and plastic army soldiers. Welcome to the 21st century American Empire where your soul is for sale, half off. Village Voice article about the "redesigned" Easter baskets is here.
Enigma For Sale
Wish I had the extra cash falling out of my pocket. Enigma machine on eBay. The fact that you can get your hands on one of these machines now speaks of how far security has moved on.
Though, plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose. Sandia, a Department of Energy (DOE) national security lab, has a patent pending on a the world's smallest combination lock. About 300 microns in size, the wheel and cog system will easily fit inside a computer chip and is driven by electrical impulses. Click here for more information.