She was a church lady. I could see it a mile away. Her hair cut, her clothing, her way of standing, and as I got closer, her way of speaking and, eventually, the things she said. I will call her Joan.It is not that surprising to find a church lady like Joan at Har Mar Shopping Mall. Har Mar is a unique phenomenon. From the outside, it is a strip mall, and from the inside, it is a regular “inside” mall. Some of the stores are only on the inside part, some open on both the inside and outside part. None are only outside. So you park, walk into a store in the strip mall, like into the LeAnn Chin’s Chinese Food place, and you go to the back of the store where the bathroom or emergency exit might be, and instead of a men’s room you find this full blown shopping mall. Like the cabinet in Narnia but instead of a fantasy world run by a big lion, you’ve got a kinda run-down but quaint Midwestern style shopping mall. Continue reading The Vampire, the Church Lady, and the Wardrobe
Daily Archives: June 16, 2008
Singer the iPhone Voos. Boos. Blues. I meant Singing.
Brian Unger can be very funny. I just got an electronic device similar to (but not) an iPhone. More on that later. But in the mean time, I heard this today while I was on my way over to Har Mar and I thought it was so funny that I’d pass it on to you. (More on Har Mar later, too .. )Go here, and click on “Listen Now. It’s Brian Unger’s letter to Steve Jobs. Written on his iPhone.(Spell check that, Mr. Sparty-pants.)The iPhone Blues
Hiaasen For Kids
I very recently reviewed Carl Hiaasen’s novels. Among his fiction are two books that are written explicitly for kids. Looking just at Hiaasen’s titles it may be hard to pick them out from the pack, so I’m making a special reference to them here. They are called “Hoot” and “Flush.” Details follow: Continue reading Hiaasen For Kids
Canadian Dinosaur Find: New Species?
The first dinosaur bones (that we know of) to have been discovered in British Columbia, Canada, are now being reported. These are bones found in 1971, eventually making their way to the Royal British Columbia Museum, and now being reported by V.M. Arbour and M.C. Graves. The bones were initially found by Kenny Flyborg Larsen, a geologist prospecting for thorium. He was drawn to these bones because the bones themselves are radioactive, and his instruments led him to them.(This is an update on this, as Arbour kindly sent me a copy of the original paper.) Continue reading Canadian Dinosaur Find: New Species?
Creationism and Its Critics in Antiquity
I have not read this book, but I’m interested in finding out more about it. Has anyone out there had a shot at it?
New Species of Dinosaur?
All I have is a lousy press release, since my University does not subscribe to this journal. (Well,we get it but I am not allowed to see the most recent six months!). So here it is: Continue reading New Species of Dinosaur?
A little wine with your Linux?
Wine is the software that runs in Linux which, in turn runs Windows programs. I have experimented and I could not believe how incredibly well it worked. At the time, I was able to achieve greater stability and performance, and an easier install, for Microsoft Office and Endnote on my Linux computer than on a comparable Windows computer. The down side in that case was that I had to run an older version of Office than currently (at that time) available. Also, the increase in reliability and performance was almost certainly in the system itself. The Linux computer simply worked (as they tend to do ) and the Windows computer was simply screwy (as they tend to be). Also, from a broader perspective, Wine was limited in what it could run. I could use Word and Excel and integrate Endnote with Word and so on, but I could not run Sim City (for example) . Ideally, a “windows emulator” (and I put that in quotes because Wine is not exactly a windows emulator) should be able to run anything windows can run. On your Linux box. Backwards and wearing high heels.Well, after fifteen years of Mucking around and slowly improving, Wine has some interesting news… Continue reading A little wine with your Linux?