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pharyngula | March 1, 2009The last time I was interviewed on location here in Morris was the fateful day that I was taped for a little movie that became Expelled…and we know how that turned out. It's happening again, only this time it's not some secretive intelligent design proponent coming in on false pretenses: it's Josh Timonen of the Richard Dawkins Foundation stopping by. I think I'm fairly safe this time, and don't expect to be turned into the villain of the documentary they're putting together.
It takes some dedication to do this. We're a long 3 hour drive from the nearest airport, reached by way of a notorious…
pharyngula | February 27, 2009Speaking of incessant, grating whines…here's another Minnesota pest, Michele Bachmann. She spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference (by invitation…how deranged have the Republicans become, anyway?) and offered this jewel of logic:
I just wondered that if our founders thought taxation without representation was bad, what would they think of representation WITH taxation?
Don't even try to comprehend the strange thoughts that flit through that tiny brain.
pharyngula | January 16, 2009
The temperatures are soaring out here in Morris, Minnesota, rising to a balmy -9°F/-23°C today, after a miserable week in which both our cars show signs of failure (one is still dead in the driveway) and we discovered the limitations of our house heating systems and insulation — once Spring arrives, some lucky contractor in our neighborhood is going to pocket a bunch of our money to fix this place up. But today…woo hoo, gang, let's get out on the deck and barbecue. Or not.
Now I'm wishing I could have made it to the Science Online '09 conference, in tropical North Carolina. Unfortunately,…
pharyngula | December 18, 2008No, the Minnesota recount is not over yet, and we still don't know whether Franken or Coleman will be our senator. At last word, Coleman held a 192 vote lead, but thousands of ballots are awaiting a verdict on eligibility from the state Supreme Court. It's the most mind-numbingly tedious process ever, so far.
However, scrutiny of the ballots has revealed one vote for the Flying Spaghetti Monster for Soil and Water Conservation Supervisor, and another for Franken and Lizard People for US Senator. The latter was rejected as an overvote, but the former did also have a vote that counted for Al…
pharyngula | December 15, 2008The blizzard is over, and now we're just buried knee-high in snow. It's also finals week at UMM, and we've just received a note from the administration that classes are not cancelled, but that "students, faculty, and staff should use their judgment when deciding whether or not travel to campus". Nice way to dodge any responsibility at all!
Fortunately, the first final I have to give is tomorrow, so we may be dug out by then.
pharyngula | December 14, 2008
Our first blizzard of the season is hitting us right now: snow is pouring down, the wind is howling, temperatures are in the single digits °F and dropping, and we're nearing white-out conditions. We're staying indoors.
I don't think our snowflakes look anything like the picture above (from this gallery of snowflake photomicrographs). They're tiny and powdery, and flying by horizontally at 30 or 40 mph.
pharyngula | November 20, 2008While I'm basking in the balmy warmth of Philadelphia, I get word from one of my homies that Morris temperatures dropped below 0°F for the first time this year. I'm sorry I'm not there to keep the Trophy Wife warm.
pharyngula | November 6, 2008I just looked up all bleary-eyed from staring at papers all day to notice that we suddenly have an inch or so of snow piled up on the ground. I was wondering why my wife was so late getting home from work — she's probably creeping along on slushy roads trying to make it home safely.
And—oh, no—I have to drive to Minneapolis tomorrow!
pharyngula | November 3, 2008One of my students picked up this flyer in Minneapolis this weekend. It looks like the creationists are visiting the University of Minnesota this Wednesday and Friday!
They do love to book that auditorium in the Physics building — don't be fooled, though. None of the science departments on campus endorse this nonsense, and I know from talking to some of them that the faculty cringe at this use of their facilities…and you know the creationists do this for the faux-sciencey illusion that they're actually presenting their work in the heart of academia.
This talk is being presented by Dave…
pharyngula | October 27, 2008Really low. Here's an anti-Al Franken brochure that's being mailed around here in Minnesota—that's aimed at kids, with childish illustrations, while accusing Franken of some contemptible acts.
"Come on in, kids... Senator Franken's going to tell a few jokes!"
"We shouldn't have to be ashamed of Minnesota's senator!"
Al Franked tackled a protestor at a political rally- and bragged about it
"We shouldn't have to wonder what he will say…"
Al Franken wrote a pornographic column in Playboy- and thought it was funny.
"We shouldn't have to apologize for his actions..."
Al Franken has written so-…
pharyngula | October 26, 2008We're having our very first snowfall of the new winter. It's kind of comforting to see, but a) my wife has an hour long commute each weekday, and b) this usually marks the descent of the region into the deep freeze for the next 4-6 months.
pharyngula | October 23, 2008We were just talking about Al, and now I learn that he'll be making a campaign stop on my campus on Monday, 27 October, at 10:30am in Oyate Hall in the student center. I don't even have classes at that time, so I'll be able to stop by and join the cheering crowds — if you're somewhere nearby, come on around.
pharyngula | October 16, 2008An artist, William Hessian, has hidden 35 miniature artworks portraying the octopus in public parks around Minneapolis. Your job: find them! It's getting cold, too, so you might want to do it before the first snowfall.
pharyngula | October 5, 2008They just don't work. Maybe you've heard of "Minnesota nice", this strange passive-aggressive attitude around here that compels everyone to compete at being the most polite and deferential…and it completely defeats the function of the 4-way stop at an intersection. The rule is simple—whoever first comes to a complete stop gets to be the first to proceed through the intersection—but real Minnesotans can't grasp it. It's nice to let someone go through first, so you'll sometimes run into these situations where two cars are parked at the crossroads, with each driver waving for the other to go…
pharyngula | September 24, 2008I'm so used to seeing nothing but bad news, it's surprising to see a community actually making a substantial investment in its educational infrastructure. We're adding a $40+ million planetarium to the downtown library. That's terrific!
It also adds a useful perspective. Remember how appalled we all were (and are) that Answers in Genesis could raise $27 million for a creationist museum? Well, that is a lot of money, and it's depressing that slack-jawed yokels would sink that much cash into an edifice to ignorance, but on the grand scale of what real educational institutions have to spend to…
pharyngula | September 17, 2008Let's see…it must have a lot of accordions in it, or cowboys singing drunken love songs to their trucks, right? Just to blow your minds, my colleague with esoteric musical taste, Nic McPhee, is getting interviewed tonight, and he'll be playing some of his favorite songs on the radio. This is our local university radio station, which has a limited license and can't play anything that has cracked the top 40 in the last 10 or 20 years, but I don't think Nic's taste will conflict at all with the station rules.
So tune in to KUMM, 89.7FM, at 6:00pm Central and have those rural Minnesotan…
pharyngula | September 8, 2008One of the quirks of this small town is the music I sometimes hear in the local grocery store. We don't get the usual boring muzak that was screened by some beancounter to maximize inoffensiveness — I was quite charmed the first time I went shopping there, and instead of boring old 1001 Strings soft-soaping pop, I actually heard them playing Patti Smith belting out "Gloria". Now it usually isn't so transcendently magnificent — in fact, it's still usually the kind of thing you might hear on a soft-rock or easy-listening or country station — but at least now and then you get to hear something…
pharyngula | August 31, 2008I'm down at this funky coffeehouse in Fargo, the Red Raven, watching Roy Zimmerman set up. It's not too late, the show starts in a half hour, so you Dakotans better come on over! It's a nice cozy little venue, and a great place for a performance.
Definitely a great performance — Roy is great about making you laugh over situations that ought to make you cry. I heard a few new songs, including one about Sarah Palin that must have been written in just the past few days. Here's my obligatory fanboy picture:
If you missed him tonight, there are more chances. He's about halfway through his 48…
pharyngula | August 31, 2008Shortly, I'll be heading north to the lovely town of Fargo for an evening of fine entertainment. Roy Zimmerman will be playing at the Red Raven Espresso Parlor at 8pm! Come on down!
If there any other Pharynguloids in the eastern North Dakota area, let's try and pack the house!
pharyngula | August 29, 2008Scienceblogs.com is about to hit one of those arbitrary round-number milestones: sometime soon, someone will make the one millionth comment. Our generous Seed overlords wish to mark this event with celebrations all over the world, and are planning to bestow upon us small sums of money for the purpose of purchasing refreshments at gatherings of bloggers and readers near the places where our physical forms abide.
In other words, we get to have a party and Seed will pay for the beer.
So Greg Laden and I are going to organize a joint party — if I tried to have one in Morris, the contrast with my…