Monthly Archives: October 2011

A true ghost story: The Slide Show

i-9895a67306669e703d305df5f2cfbe1d-McGregor_Museum_Kimberley.jpg

The McGregor Museum is a complex building with several wings surrounding an inner court yard, a multi-layered roof, balconies everywhere, and numerous trees in the court yard close in to the building. So, a cat can spend the heat of the day in the shaded crown of a tree, and the cool of the evening up on the building’s sun-warmed metal roof.

~~

i-34bc4f6921ea4d820f5ce9405ec8e0c4-Ghostly_Stairway_In_McGregor_Mueum_Kimberly.jpg

The interior of the McGregor museum houses numerious exhibits. The old period rooms and hallways focus on the late 19th century, and other newer areas (not shown) have an excellent set of exhibits on archaeology, human evolution, and “San” rock art.

~~

i-8b549aa0c3bdf382d426bdc6b300d85d-Defending_Kimberley_Diorama.jpg

Defending Kimberly.

~~

i-982553617d9562802e238d5a0179562c-Dude_in_military_suit_outside_my_door.jpg

The dude in the kilt.

~~

i-2436c7a217ee566761fb3fc8251803a3-Ghostly_Gatling_Gun_McGregor_Museum_Kimberly.jpg

The Gatling Gun. (A Gatling gun is an old fashioned machine gun.)

~~

i-8e19eee4b22c3bf344e3d1da73121c1c-Are_There_Any_Dead_People_In_There.jpg

A visitor to the museum checking for ghosts.

~~

i-9f0c5cdd4cf2b517fd48b9ca002b72a0-Doing_fieldwork_in_a_game_park.jpg

Doing fieldwork in a game park.

~~

i-f3eeb6faa95c0c4ba36fbf0630d02479-Possible_San_Grave_But_It_Wasnt.jpg

Possible “San” burial … which turned out to have no physical remains.

~~

i-779e3da5fd6a7d15aba13134ea60550f-Looking_4_burial_all_we_got_was_this_scorpion.jpg

Although no artifacts of note or bones were found in the burial, there were plenty of these. The scorpions were in a state of torpor, as it was winter.

The End

A True Ghost Story, Part 6: But first, since we’re talking geology …

Since we are talking about geology, I do not want to give up the opportunity to bring up one of the coolest stories of geology ever, given the present day discussion of science and religion. You will be asking for a source for this story. Look it up in Wikipedia, where all knowledge resides, and you will not find it there.
Continue reading A True Ghost Story, Part 6: But first, since we’re talking geology …

A True Ghost Story Installment D: I see dead people. Hey, It’s my job!

I wrote earlier about the graves that were dug daily to receive the dead. In truth, the details of this procedure are still being worked out by archaeologists at the McGregor Museum in Kimberley, but when we were there on this particular trip, part of the grave yard to which I refer had been just discovered, accidentally uncovered during a public works drainage project. I’ve never seen anything quite like it in all my years as an archaeologist.
Continue reading A True Ghost Story Installment D: I see dead people. Hey, It’s my job!

A True Ghost Story III: Who is that kilted man with the big gun?

Well, we were living with this ghost who would walk up and down the hall in the middle of the night, invisibly leaving behind only the sound of its footsteps. But before I tell you how this all came out, I want to tell you a related side story.

As I had mentioned, I had the “hallway extension” room. Let me explain.
Continue reading A True Ghost Story III: Who is that kilted man with the big gun?

Action Alert: Tell Congress To Support Federal Funding For The National Science Foundation

I received the following email and urge readers to call your Senators and encourage them to support the National Science Foundation! Here’s why. Having worked in a Senate office, I can assure you that every call matters. The details:

Call your Senators by 5:00 ET today to urge them to support the House Appropriations Committee funding level of $6,859,867,000 (same funding level as for FY 2011) for the National Science Foundation (NSF) in fiscal year (FY) 2012.

Details here.

Tell Congress To Support Federal Funding For The National Science Foundation

I received the following email and urge readers to call your Senators and encourage them to support the National Science Foundation! Here’s why. Having worked in a Senate office, I can assure you that every call matters. The details:

Call your Senators by 5:00 ET today to urge them to support the House Appropriations Committee funding level of $6,859,867,000 (same funding level as for FY 2011) for the National Science Foundation (NSF) in fiscal year (FY) 2012.

Details here.

Productivity Future Vision (2011)

What they say we get:

What we actually get:

1) 35% of every viewable surface of everything is an ad. Including the sky and the moon.
2) The technology pauses for several seconds every now and then because, well, it never works like on the ad.
3) A new EULA pops up several times a day asking you to approve a 43 page document and re-enter your passwords.
4) Passwords have become a minimum of 64 items long with a least 7 numbers, 7 symbols, and 7 difficult to remember hand and foot gestures.
5) The entire interface changes half way through and the rest of the video is people contacting each other to complain about the interface having just changed.

H/T: Joe

Discordant Democrats vs. Republican Dittoheads

I was disturbed by a recent discussion on my favorite cable TV news channel. Anchors and pundits were discussing the different approaches used by the Republican vs. Democratic Party in the heath care reform fight. An anchor was pressing the two guests about this difference in strategy, challenging them with the idea that the Republicans were better at this sort of thing because they were coordinated and in lockstep. The word “lockstep” was used. Every single Republican will vote the same exact way on the health care reform bill (against health care). The Democrats, on the other hand, will be more diverse in their voting patterns and are currently more diverse in their arguments and positions on various aspects of each issue. This was clearly and unquestionably seen by these youngsters (I think everyone in the conversation was under 40) as a sign of weakness in the Democratic Party and strength in the Republican Party. Lockstep = good. Diversity of opinion and open, rational dialog = bad.

Continue reading Discordant Democrats vs. Republican Dittoheads