personal
jstemwedel | November 2, 2006First the really important thing: if you haven't done it yet, write some letters (or send some faxes) to save the Tripoli six. You'll be glad that you did something to stand up for truth and fairness.
Less life-or-death, but still worthy: Shelley Batts from Retrospectacle is up for a Student Blogger Scholarship, and you can vote for her here.
Now, I'm off to meet John Wilkins for lunch. From our phone conversation:
John: You know what I look like?
Me: Kind of like an albino gorilla?
John: That's an old photo ...
More soon!
pharyngula | November 2, 2006As if you don't get enough of this guy PZ Myers on Pharyngula, now there's an interview with me up on Genetics and Health.
clock | October 31, 2006The worst Tevye ever (January 26, 2005)
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I have seen "Fiddler on the Roof" on stage more than 20 times in my life, starting at about the age of seven. Since I was about 24, I saw the movie a few times. I have had, over the years, LPs, tapes and CDs of several different renditions. I can play a few of the tunes on the piano. I love it. That is my favourite show of all times.
I have heard the music so many times, my brain is so wired to it that I cannot stop myself from crying every time I hear it (that is why I don't listen to it in the car…
pharyngula | October 29, 2006Here's a weird and trivial phenomenon to consider: gum disintegration syndrome.
I'm not much of a gum-chewer, and never have been…but I remember gum from when I was a kid, and you could chew and chew and maintain a flavorless wad for a long time. Recently, I thought I'd try gum as an appetite suppressant, and I got some of the sugarless stuff. To my surprise, I'd chew on it for a few minutes, and shortly I'd feel it losing its texture and getting runny, and then it would dissolve into small fragments that I'd just swallow. I thought it was those dang cheap confectionery companies, that the…
clock | October 29, 2006Just a quick note. I finally got to meet Chris Mooney, my fellow Seed Scienceblogger and the author of The Republican War on Science.
On Saturday, we met early enough to have coffee and a little chat before his book-reading and signing event at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh. The long weekend in local schools (Friday off in Orange Co. and Monday off in Wake Co.) and a break in bad weather we had recently propably prompted a lot of locals to make that last trip out of town for the year this week, so the size of the crowd was not as impressive as it could have been, but those present were good…
clock | October 27, 2006Kefli was my second horse, back in Yugoslavia. I raised him from foal until he was almost 3 years old. I sold him a few days before I left for he US. I just got a picture of him, from a few years later:
j7uy5 | October 27, 2006Shelled edamame
(soy beans) can be found in all natural food stores,
Asian grocery stores and the natural food sections of most
supermarkets.
rel="tag">Tahini is sesame paste and can be found
in the same
places. The crushed ice keeps the mixture cool while processing and
allows less oil to be used.
2 cups frozen shelled edamame
1 pound (13 oz. can) chick peas, drained and rinsed
4 cloves peeled garlic
2 T. fresh, grated ginger root
1/2 c. sesame tahini
3 tsp. lemon juice
3/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 c. sesame oil
1/2 c. crushed ice
1 T. hot sauce
1/3 c. chopped fresh cilantro…
jstemwedel | October 26, 2006So, I'm getting ready to go to Vancouver, BC, next week for the Philosophy of Science Association meeting (which coincides with the Society for Social Studies of Science meeting and the History of Science Society meeting). And I'm really jazzed that I'll get to meet John Lynch and John Wilkins and Ben Cohen and David Ng in the three-dimensional world.
But I'm also psyched that I'm going to be able to get rid of all the Canadian coinage that has found its way into my hands over the last several years.*
Naturally, this has led me to wonder whether there is a typical Canadian experience that is…
clock | October 25, 2006A couple of years ago I could beat my son at chess every time.
Not any more.
He's been studying from books, playing online and beating his sister relentlessly over the last few weeks. Then he challenged me. He won. Then he won again. Then he won again. In the fourth game I finally realized I had to play really carefully and managed to win, but it was not easy.
Then he challenged my wife, who is a much better chess player than I am. And he beat her. A number of times, though they are more evenly matched.
Then he joined his school's chess club. Today was their first meeting. He beat…
j7uy5 | October 25, 2006I want a robot vacuum cleaner that goes around the room by itself, saying "Warning! Warning! Alien Approaching!"
clock | October 23, 2006I had a delightful lunch today with my blog-sparring-partner Mike Munger of Mungovitz End (see how my blog is labeled on his blogroll: "Coturnix's nonsense"). We had great time discussing politics, academia, Horowitz, blogging and the life in the Triangle. Oh, Mike is also running for North Carolina governor in 2008 as a Libertarian candidate. Check his positions - how liberal!!!
pharyngula | October 23, 2006
There's my son, kicking Republican butts. The years of brainwashing must have paid off.
drorzel | October 23, 2006Inspired by a thread at Fark, John Lynch asks an interesting question:
If you could go back in time and tell your 12-year old self one thing, what would it be?
Janet has some thoughts as well.
Leaving aside obvious stuff like "Buy Microsoft stock," what I would say to my twelve-year-old self is this:
Get over yourself.
(Continued...)
You're not getting picked on in school because your classmates are jealous that you're smarter than they are (nerd apologia notwithstanding). You're getting picked on because you're annoying about it.
You can be the smartest guy in the room without rubbing it…
clock | October 22, 2006All the sciencebloggers are taking a turn being interviewed on Page 3.14. Today, it's my turn so go and read more about me.
pharyngula | October 22, 2006Here's a good reason why I prefer to go by the name "PZ":
HowManyOfMe.com
There are:1,184people with my namein the U.S.A.
How many have your name?
Too dang many "Pauls," and an awful lot of "Myers," too.
(I shall mention that there are almost 5 times as many people named "Myers" as "Meyers," so why does everyone spell my last name wrong?)
jstemwedel | October 22, 2006Riffing on a Fark.com thread, John Lynch ponders the pearls of wisdom he might offer his 12-year-old self. This got me to thinking that there is useful advice I'd want to share with that earlier time-slice of me, but there is also information about which I think I'd keep earlier-me in the dark.*
Here's what I'd share with my 12-year-old self:
Hardly any academic setting will be so insulting of your intelligence as seventh grade -- so hang in there.
There are very few creatures more willfully vicious than teenage girls -- but much of this is in response to cultural forces that don't want to…
j7uy5 | October 21, 2006
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pharyngula | October 18, 2006I'm back!
Well, sorta. I spent 22 hours traveling from London to Morris yesterday, and didn't get home until 1am. I got about 3 hours sleep before the circadian rhythms kicked in, and my suprachiasmatic nucleus started kicking the reticular formation into high alert, trying to convince it I was dawdling in bed far too long. I tried fighting it until 6am, when there was no more hope—the SCN was now telling my whole body it was lunch time. So I'm awake and physiologically confused, a state that will probably worsen over the day.
I have noticed that while I was off frolicking in the UK, traffic…