Archaeological humor

Proof even academics have a sense of humor:

Zombie Attack at Hierakonpolis
by Renée Friedman

Weighing the evidence for and dating of Solanum virus outbreaks in early Egypt

flickArr!

Ahoy! flickr.com's been impressed, mateys!


You can do it, too! Just go to flickr.com and click on the "Arr!" language link at the bottom of the page.

EmpowerMint!

Featured drink at the Portland Women's Crisis Line Gala next Friday is the EmpowerMint - vodka, lemonade and fresh mint. For each one sold the PWCL receives $3 (total cost is $7).

Mmmm ... sounds yummy. I've also heard a rumor that some of the Rose City Rollers will be present delivering drinks on skates(?!).

I am so there.


Ticket price: $25 in advance, $35 at the door
21 years & over, full bar
6:30pm-11pm
The Wonder Ballroom
128 NE Russell St Portland OR 97212

Take that, you bully!

To all those folks out there griping about "kids these days":

Central Kings students wear pink to send bullies a message

Ha!

Home maintenance, choose your weapon

I was doing some electrical wiring in the still-unfinished part of our basement this weekend. As I pulled a chunk of romex over the exposed support beam above my head, I heard a scraping sound briefly from the top of the beam. I felt something sharp bounce off the top of my head and clatter on the floor with a metallic "ping!".

A rusty old straight razor sans handle.

Yikes! Fortunately, the non-sharp end hit my head. Still, it was a bit unsettling to look down to see a three inch straight razor blade. It appears to have been there quite some time, possibly since the original owner (ca. 1926). It seems to me to be a rather odd place to stash one's razor, though - on top of one of the two major beams that supports the main floor.

It could be worse ... our neighbors found a ca. 1900 revolver inside a wall when they ripped the plaster off for a remodel.

Bye bye 'Bertie!

So long Mr. Gonzales, I can't say my civil liberties will miss you.

When John Ashcroft was first appointed I never would have thought we could have a worse Attorney General than the guy who could lose an election to a dead man. Of course, I also thought to myself after the 2000 Presidential election, "It can't be that bad, how much damage can one man do in four years?" I suppose I should thank Mr. Gonzales for correcting my error much like his boss did.

One has to wonder, however, if this is purely to get him (and Carl Rove) out of the public eye far enough ahead of the upcoming elections in the hope that the notoriously-fickle voting public will forget just how badly the current junta has mangled our government?

Garbage fairies?

There is a running joke in our household about the "laundry fairies". You know, the ones who go around washing and folding the laundry when you're not looking? Close cousins to the "kitchen fairies". Yeah, those. Well, they seem to be on strike in our household. I thought we were paying nice union scale wages, but apparently they disagree. Either that or they don't like the nonfat milk we put out with the cookies and want whole instead.

Regardless, apparently there are now garbage fairies, too. Who'd'a thunk it? I got into work this morning, sat down at my desk and started hacking away. At some point mid-morning I looked down and noticed something new not two inches from my left foot - a little black garbage can. See, my office was a bit ... bare ... when I first moved in. There was a desk. And nothing else. No chair, no garbage can, nothing. So the chair thing needed to be fixed immediately, since it's rather hard to reach the keyboard drawer standing up, but the lack of a garbage can wasn't a great inconvenience. I never thought to pick one up except when sitting at my desk, so I'd been sans wastebasket for some time.

I am convinced the garbage fairies, offended that I might be avoiding them, snuck into my office this morning and placed a handy little wastebasket next to my foot where I couldn't help but notice their helpful hint.

Wheels and feet

Hey all you runners and cyclists out there:

Please try to be considerate of those of us who also use the sidewalks and streets. If you're on wheels, get off the sidewalk. There is a perfectly good street right there meant for vehicles - including bicycles. If you're on foot (and this includes you runners), get on the sidewalk and out of traffic - that's what the sidewalk is for.

The only thing worse than trying not to flatten some speed bump in training jogger in the middle of the street is diving out of the way of some homicidal cyclist screaming down the sidewalk.

I'm not a runner, so I don't get the "never mind there's a perfectly good sidewalk 10' away, I'd rather run right down the middle of the street" thing. I walk a lot of places, though, and have been quite pleased with the quality and quantity of Portland's sidewalks. You runners should try them out sometime.

As a bike commuter, however, it really gets on my nerves that inconsiderate cyclists give the rest of us a bad name. If you're not walking your bike, get off the sidewalk. Portland is a very bike-friendly city with lots of bike lanes on its streets - use them!

As a (rare as possible) driver, I don't mind going around bikes in the street. After all, they're legal vehicles, too. But I really get annoyed at joggers who run down the middle of the street and 1) refuse to get out of the way of bikes and cars and 2) get annoyed that anyone else would dare use their street. See that sidewalk? Yeah, that one. Use it.

Is this just a Portland thing? Or is it everywhere?

Sign on a lunch cart

Closed today. Too damn hot. Gone surfing.

Damn, I wish I could get away with that!

Funny web site

This has to be one of the funniest Flash-based web sites I've ever seen:

http://www.blacksheep-themovie.com/BlackSheep.aspx

It's enough to make me want to go see the movie when it opens at the Hollywood Theater later this month.