Catablogic Blathering
bushwells | March 3, 2009A friend in another galaxy far away, when presented with photos of another friend's wide-eyed infant, remarked that the cute (and she truly is) baby made her icy heart melt.
In today's New York Times, Natalie Angier discusses primatologist Sarah Blaffer Hrdy's forthcoming book Mothers and Others: The Evolutionary Origins of Mutual Understanding. Hrdy posits that our capability of cooperating with others, our ability to empathize, and our attempts to see another's perspective likely arose from the selective pressures of being part of a cooperatively breeding social group.
Also noted is the…
bushwells | September 10, 2008A couple of posts back, I plugged the Spore game a bit, and I see that proprietor of Pharyngula asks if anyone has played the game yet? PZ shrugs his skeptical shoulders and says insouciantly (well, maybe...I just like the adverb):
I've played with the creature creator, which is actually rather fun...but it's really just the most elaborate version of Mr Potatohead ever designed. What I've seen of the game itself puts me off a bit, though. It's not going to teach one single thing about evolution, and actually teaches several things that are anti-evolutionary. It's a design toy, not any kind…
bushwells | June 6, 2008So AfterElton: News, Reviews and Commentary on Gay and Bisexual Men in Entertainment and the Media just released their choices for the Hot 100 Men List. Granted, this may smack of exploitation a la Maxim's list of "hot women," but it prompts me to offer a short list of Guys Who Hang Out (Figuratively) at the Refuge Whom I Appreciate:
The Right Reverend Big Dumb Chimp. Sheer animal magnetism.
The incomparable Warren of The Indigestible. More than a delicious mouthful!
Saint Gasoline. Hot. Inflammatory. Don't pull his finger.
The luscious SDC a.k.a. mistaSteve of Words of Advice for Young…
jfiore | March 18, 2008Due to a conversation regarding facts and theories on a message board I sometimes visit, I decided to write a short item for my students answering a simple question:
"If a fact is fundamentally true, isn't it better than a theory?"
At first glance, it may appear that a fact is more valuable than a theory because the former is, by definition, true and unchangeable. The reality is that theories are much more useful to us than facts. Consider the following. Suppose you hold out a stone at arm's length and let go. It drops to the ground. That's a fact. You saw it happen. Unfortunately, by itself…
bushwells | January 4, 2008Forgive me. I'm going to channel Sally Field here by way of Shelob. I received an e-mail earlier this week notifying me that The Tolkienian War on Science (TWoS) placed second in the non-fiction category of the Middle-earth Fan Fiction Awards 2007 (MEFA). Here's my bitchin' plaque, courtesy of Rhapsody, a Tolkien aficionado who is also one of the regular readers and a commenter here at the Refuge (many thanks, R).
The backdrop of Minas Morgul is taken from Peter Jackson's The Return of the King. I figured the choice of this image is appropriate for the TWoS since science and technology…
jfiore | December 1, 2007I have added two new categories to the refuge, Audio Island and Pattern Juggling, for the convenience of those interested in a couple of my "off the beaten path" jaunts. I have gone back and retagged a bunch of old posts and will use these tags in the future. Audio Island is basically a catch-all for audio/acoustics/electronics gear, new technologies, observations, and the like. Pattern Juggling is the location for my ramblings regarding the intersection of drumming, co-ordination, art and so forth (for example, the DIY Neuromotor Experiments posts). Audio Island is perhaps a bit obvious,…
bushwells | November 16, 2007Please allow me to assure you that with this entry, I will not be veering into regular essays on the trappings of banal domesticity. However, I think this is a damn fine minestrone. I typically make it during the cooler months of the year, so as a nod to the recent autumnal weather here in the central regions of the Gaaah-duhn State, I figured I'd toss it out here on the Refuge
Buon appetito, you bonobos!
This minestrone soup recipe produces something more akin to a stew rather than a mere soup. It has a rustic, robust yet nourishing and comforting quality to it, and for this reason, I often…
bushwells | September 13, 2007...to reassure the Kevin-o-philes and the Kevin-o-phobes, for that matter, that the raucous young bonobo will be back on the blog in the future. Exactly when that will be is to be determined at this point, but he will be back!
In the meantime, I am sure that Jim "I-am-the-god-of-drums-and-circuits-worship-me-you-fools" Fiore will continue to keep you entertained, e.g., the comments in response to Kevin's A-kickin' the Fannie (or a'dyin' tryin') post. As a last resort, I, The World's Most Boring Woman, will offer my garbled, geriatric mutterings. You will note that I do no take on or seek…
jfiore | August 8, 2007"He won't hurt you". Check out this thread which popped up after a report of a child being killed in a pit bull attack. We can thank commenter scorp1101 for jumping right into it with the pit bulls are just fine and I know because I own one argument. The remainder of the thread is interesting for two reasons. First, a major theme among many posters seems to be that training (or lack thereof) is the root cause of problems, not something inherent in the breed. Second, it took until the second page of comments before someone said anything about the child who was killed. I guess there's nothing…
bushwells | April 16, 2007I freely admit it. I routinely destroy my neoencephalon by watching all manner of crap on television. I am not one of those overweening snobs who daintily curl an upper lip as I sneer, "I never watch television." I love popular culture, and frankly, find a dose of mindless television to be relaxing, and occasionally thought-provoking.
Warning: This is recycled bonobo scat from the long defunct Refuge, ca. Nov. 5, 2005.
Such occurred recently when I watched the imaginatively titled, "Vampire Bats" featuring the unconquerable Lucy Lawless. Although I was not a devotee, I enjoyed watching…
bushwells | March 19, 2007...but on life support.
Sadly, the Frinksters and their fearsome pants-armadillos are entubated and awaiting a court order.
Frink Tank filled a much needed niche in the science blogs arena, and in fact they were part of this cozy community until they were sent packing into exile for something unspeakable.
A word from the Frinks:
beep - beep - beep
FrinkTank is currently in a persistent vegetative state. We're not pulling the plug, and our archives are fully viewable for all (eleven) of our fans to see, but the appearance of new content in the near future is about as likely as a postmortem…
bushwells | March 18, 2007Shelley at Retrospectacle tagged the Chimp Refuge for a Thinking Blogger Award Hey, thanks, Shelley, but when you mention "scathing wit," we know you're talking about Kev and Jim because women just aren't funny.
Anyway, the rules for the tag you're it blogger game are to be found here at The Thinking Blog
Here are the rules (via the Thinking Blog - see link):
Should you choose to participate, please make sure you pass this list of rules to the blogs you are tagging. I thought it would be appropriate to include them with the meme.
The participation rules are simple:
1. If, and only if, you…
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…
bushwells | March 14, 2007After all my previous squawking about women reading science fiction and fantasy, OK, I mean hottus scientificas chicas who do or do not read the genre, I can't believe I missed this. Well, maybe I can. I am a near geriatric, after all.
Here are the various responses from my SciBlings: Most Significant SF & Fantasy Books of the Last Fifty Years.
The list is below the fold, and the books which I have read are in bold text: 36 of 50, if I counted right. My brother, 10 years my senior, is an avid science fiction and fantasy fan, and not only had many of these books in paperback form, but…
jfiore | October 29, 2006
Like myriad other normal Americans, my wife and I like to carve what we affectionately call punkins the weekend before the empty hotdog holiday (AKA Hollow-weenie). While my wife just sort of dives right in, hacking out gourd-guts with a butcher knife and great zeal, I tend toward the more methodical, usually sketching a face on my favorite orange orb with a pen before picking up a paring knife. In this year's rendition, my happy punkin is giving the googley-eyes to my wife's somewhat twisted rendition of the classical jack.
jfiore | August 10, 2006If you haven't seen it, 30 Days is Supersize Me author Morgan Spurlock's show on FX. The premise is straight-forward: immerse someone for 30 days in a situation opposite to what they're used to. Ostensibly, the idea is to learn "how the other half lives", so to speak. The August 9 episode featured a woman, married with children, who happens to be an atheist. For 30 days she lived with a Christian family in Texas. To my eyes, there was a constant undercurrent of tension in spite of some very friendly and polite surface conversation. There's plenty to jaw about here, but I'd like to offer up…
bushwells | August 3, 2006What movie do you think does something admirable (though not necessarily accurate) regarding science? Bonus points for answering whether the chosen movie is any good generally....
My tastes in sci-fi movies are similar to PZ's, and likewise, are indefensible. Heck, I'm a fan of SciFi Originals, and really, I don't think Mansquito did much to advance the cause of science. As usual, there was a big bad corporation behind the metamorphosis of man to skeeter. I mean, what's up with this? Always with the evil drug company and its secret formulas which turn people into large insects or…
bushwells | August 1, 2006My elder kid and I returned yesterday from Madison, Wisconsin where he spent a couple of days taking placement tests and becoming oriented and advised. Poor guy. He is in some danger of being pegged as a reviled "Coastie." . Fortunately, he belongs to an uber-nerd species whose habits and nature are a far cry from the Westchester preppie ilk which has invaded Mad City like so much purple loosestrife in a Wisconsin wetland. He has legitimate claim to Cheesehead status by virtue of having been popped out of the ol' womb at Madison General. However, he is known to wear New Zealand Ugg…
bushwells | July 24, 2006Last night's Simpson's episode was a repeat of "The Monkey Suit" (HABF14) which first aired in May, and I recall this was hashed over a bit here before SciBlogs bloated outwards in June. But hey, as the most boring woman on Earth, I'm inclined to be repetitive, redundant even. Here's the synopsis of the show courtesy of The Simpsons Archive
After visiting an evolution exhibit narrated by guest star Melanie Griffith, Flanders pushes Mayor Quimby to appoint Reverend Lovejoy as a "Mortality Czar" in charge of spreading the theory of creationism. Darwin's theories are quickly outlawed and…