Sheer Procrastination
bushwells | June 13, 2008Even though my e-mail address in buried amongst the piles of banana peels and dried bonobo scat that litter the Refuge, I receive various "you might want to blog about this" tips from the media and commercial interests. Don't interpret this as self-importance on my part since all of my dear, dear sweet SciBlings receive these.
One (via MSN) in particular caught my attention before I jettisoned it from the Inbox:
Great Moments in Procrastination
The site "encourages you to take a break and watch posted videos of people doing what many of them do best: procrastinating. The site just launched…
bushwells | September 28, 2007Gene Expression's Razib used a catchy little title for the article in which he referenced DNA Unraveled by Colin Nickerson for the Boston Globe. How overarching the role of RNA will be for the regulation of gene expression throughout the genome is still up for grabs, but one can't deny that there's fascinating and uncharted territory to be explored.
Predictably, the folks at the Discovery Institute leapt all over Nickerson's article as further implication that complexity = Intelligent Design, and the old "scientists don't know everything therefore the theory of evolution is not true" canard…
bushwells | September 19, 2007Once again, my brothers and sisters, it is that grazhny Talk Like a Pirate Day. What hound-and-horny chepooka is this, I ask you? That PZ chelloveck and other SciBling lewdies Corpus Callosum, Grrl Scientist, and Dr. Free-Ride guff away when they slooshy Pirate. I say "Yarbles!" to that. There should be a "Govoreet Like a Droog Day." I think that would be real horrorshow.
Nadsat Dictionary
bushwells | September 12, 2007James Lileks maintains one of my favorite high-kitsch entertainment time-sinks, namely The Institute of Official Cheer. Lileks has scanned all sorts of advertisements, comics, and cookbooks (sp. The Gallery of Regrettable Food) from the 30, 40s, 50s and 60s, and then has commented on them. Some of his text makes me smile. Some makes me laugh aloud, spraying my computer monitor in a Jackson Pollock-like motif using masticated food or coffee as the medium.
A science and technology related addition to the Institute is Compu-Promo. Here's an excerpt from the introduction:
The "Computer" photo…
bushwells | September 10, 2007In anticipation of forking over multiple dead presidents, a healthy kidney and sacrificing a pair of white doves to enter the local googolplex cinema to see 3:10 to Yuma, I indulged in a Christian Bale-o-thon this weekend. Well, OK, two DVDs don't make a "-thon" but it's a little more focused than my typical viewing habits.
The two films I watched this past weekend were Reign of Fire and The Prestige. Both qualify as Mystery Science Theatre designates. In fact, Michael Nelson of the real MST 3000 has a Riff on Reign of Fire available for the low, low, LOW price of $2.99!
Some of the blurbs…
bushwells | August 24, 2007So you've got your Harry Potter fandom, your Buffy the Vampire Slayer fandom, your Pirates of the Caribbean fandom and your Star Trek fandom.* Isn't it about time for an Evolutionist/Rationalist fandom? Well, isn't it? Check out my answers to the meme** that's sweeping the fan-i-verse!
Note added in proof: The responses to this meme may readily be extended to any scientist-fandom, e.g., see comment #1. Have at it!
01. The first character I first fell in love with.
Charles Darwin. Sweeeeeet!
02. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now.
Thomas Huxley - Darwin's bulldog…
bushwells | March 16, 2007
When I was a little kid, I frequently snuck into my older brother's room and read his collection of science fiction books and pulp magazines (see previous post on SF&F books). My mother, who was (and is) a big fan of The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald (a lovely book and recommended) thought I might benefit from reading some fantasy so she bought The Hobbit for me when I was 12 (6th grade; 1966, yes, I am that old) which I happily read. My brother, who was a college student at the time, then brought home The Lord of the Rings in 1968, and I devoured it. I re-read The…