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Tuesday, April 30, 2002
Haiku meets the visual artsPrintmaker Peter Miller, creator of moody photogravures of Japanese landscapes, has paired his prints with poetry by members of the World Haiku Group in his new show, currently visible at the Gallery Yu in Kamakura.The artist explains: Both prints and haiku can be taken in at a glance and are well-suited to spontaneous perceptions. Perception may be instantaneous, but the ink on Miller's densely developed prints takes two weeks to set. 
The Women in Trades Association hosts a reunion on Saturday for women who worked in factories during World War II. Find more information and online reference material at the Rosie the Riveter Trust. Sunday, April 28, 2002
Spoken properly, with a rising and falling intonation, the family name of Yo-Yo Ma means "horse". With different tones, the syllable "ma" can mean "mother", "flax", or "scold".
The combination of tone and syllable gives extended meaning to some Asian languages. It is then surprising that the cellist Ma has created the Silk Road Project, a heady mix of culture, music and geography which ties into this year's Smithsonian Folklife Festival? Smithsonian officials are expecting record-breaking crowds for the event, already under construction on the National Mall. Friday, April 26, 2002
KarasuThey live in nests made of wire coathangers. They put stones on railroad tracks and clams on roads. When food is scarce, they carry off kittens. They peck out the eyes of stray cats to disable them. They are "hauling away children the size of small farm animals." Whatever the truth of the rumors, there's no dispute that the crows in Tokyo are a problem. An estimated 37,000 of the birds are terrorizing pedestrians, shredding garbage bags, and killing small animals.Tokyo metropolitan government officials are striking back, first with a chick-killing program (which was not effective), and now with massive crow traps in public parks. As of April 26, more than ten percent of the population had been eliminated. But the battle goes on.
Thursday, April 25, 2002
Dare we hope for baby pandas?
The Mouse, who provided the photo, notes: "BTW, he did pursue her vigorously for a bit longer ..., she went up the tree, he moped, they got together and romped a bit ... But at least they're together again."
Was it part of traditional Japanese culture? An expensive delicacy? Or merely something that people ate during the meat shortages after World War II? Whatever the history, the consumption of whale meat in Japan is now declining.
Despite this, the Japanese whaling industry is urging the International Whaling Commisions to lift the ban on commercial whaling. The Fisheries Agency is now trying to persuade people to eat whales because whales are eating all the fish. The Japan Whaling Association argues that the ban on commercial whaling is "stripping Japan of this important part of its culture and tradition." Will any of these arguments matter if the Japanese people decide they prefer cheeseburgers? Find more whale biology and whaling information at the whaling.com site. Wednesday, April 24, 2002
But is it science?Probably not, but it's delightful. The Dinotopia exhibit opens today at the National Museum of Natural History.
This year's Folklife Festival, already under construction on the Mall, will feature such exotic creatures as Bactrian camels and cellist Yo Yo Ma. The camels, by the way, are from California, but they are receiving Kazakh language lessons so they can obey commands. All this and more in this article from Tuesday's Washington "Post".
Smithsonian in the newsFrom today's New York "Times": Marc Pachter, acting director of NMAH, may not be recognized by his own docents, but he has interesting and controversial ideas on the museum as secular cathedral. More views on museums as cathedrals, mediators, and builders of often non-existent consensus by Michael Kimmelman, an article originally from the New York "Times" but now housed on the site of the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee.
Just in time for the cool weather, the reading room chiller has been repaired. The new motor arrived yesterday, and today we have cool air. The hyrdothermograph trace looks like the foothills instead of the Alps. The microfilm cabinet (which had to be moved to reach the side of the chiller) is still standing in the middle of the floor: "like that Monolith", according to the photo archivist.
Tuesday, April 23, 2002
Better conservation through chemistry!In China, demand for seal penis drops as the Chinese discover Viagra.[more] [not really more, but bloody amusing] 
Smithsonian pandas Tian Tian and Mei Xiang are back together again after a month's separation. She's showing some promising pre-mating behavior, and he seems willing to back off for now. Watch their awkward adolescence on the National Zoo's PandaCam. Monday, April 22, 2002
Can history be trademarked?The Roger Richman Agency thinks so. Along with the actors and musicians whose interests they represent, the agency controls the rights to historical figures Andrew Carnegie, Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud and the Wright Brothers.Richman has claimed right of publicity on the Wrights' name and images since 1992 based on laws in California, Ohio, Indiana and other states. The agency represents the Wright family, represented by the brothers' great-grandnephew, Stephen Wright. The family collects 65 percent of the royalties generated, with 35 percent going to the Richman agency. Now, however, Richman is applying for federal copyright protection on the name and images of the Wrights. Although Richman claims that they have no intention of charging historical institutions such as the Smithsonian for the use of Wright material, they do plan to charge the suppliers of items in the Smithsonian's gift-shops. Local organizations are also alarmed at the potential of this application to alter their observances of the Centennial of Flight. Local papers in Dayton, OH,, Elizabeth City, NC and Hampton Roads, VA note that planned activities may have to be changed to avoid playing copyright fees to Richman. Friday, April 19, 2002
Monkeys behaving badlyI've been running into a lot of reports about monkeys making a nuisance of themselves in Asia. The Balinese macaques (Macaca fascicularis) I encountered in Ubud were not interested in bothering us, but that is because they are now fed and closely supervised by professional attendants.
However, in Bali the monkeys are rare, and they are sacred. They are now almost entirely confined to small temple forests. In much of Asia, macaques are "weedy" animals that move agressively into new habitats, even when they must share those habitats with humans. The Japanese macaque, Macaca fuscata fuscata, (Nihon zaru in Japanese) has become a major pest, as well as a popular tourist attraction. The New York "Times" reports on the increasingly serious monkey population problem. ... like coyotes in the United States, monkey numbers in Japan keep increasing. With monkey bands moving from mountain areas to farm areas, their diet has improved, allowing most adult females now to have one baby a year.In an article in Asahi Shinbun, a farmer complains: "I remember officials had to actually round up monkeys when the crown prince came to visit,'' says Yoshida, remembering when the Takago Natural Zoo opened on the mountain behind his home in the 1950s.As the population expands, Japanese farmers are having an increasingly difficult time defending their crops from the monkeys. Although they have the legal right to kill pest animals, their tactics are controversial. ALIVE [a Japanese animal-rights group] claims the work is unnecessarily cruel. "Lucky'' monkeys are shot dead on the spot. Ones that are trapped (usually by farmers) are starved, garrotted, stabbed, drowned or beaten to death since guns and sodium pentabarbitol are rare in the countryside.In Hong Kong, the problem is no better. The Hong Kong macaques are mostly Macaca mulatta, but there is also a small population of Macaca fascicularis, with 33 percent of the population estimated to be hybrids. Associated Press and ENN report on Hong Kong officials' determination to sterilize male monkeys and reduce the fertility of females, in order to reduce the population. Even when they are not crop pests, the macaques are agressive and can be dangerous to humans who do not offer them food. It is now illegal to feed monkeys in Hong Kong. Population imbalance is bad enough when it happens in the monkeys' native habitat. It is potentially much more harmful when they are introduced into another ecosystem. Macaca fascicularis, probably introduced from Indonesia, is now devastating the native fauna of New Guinea. "The critters are the bubonic plague of invasive primates," say David Quammen, who has written a book showing how the same monkeys helped wipe out the flightless Dodo bird from the Indian Ocean Island of Mauritius after being introduced by Dutch sailors in the 17th century. Mr. Quammen says the [macaques] are one of a number of "weedy" animals--including rats, cockroaches, pigeons and, of course, humans--that are highly mobile and can thrive in a wide range of environments. As they spread, overwhelmingly local species that aren't able to keep pace, the Earth will be transformed into "the Planet of Weeds," he predicts. [my emphasis -- bew]
Last night's storm front cleared out by six, leaving the air so cool that the Mouse and I took sweaters on our weekly trek across Connecticut Avenue to the Zoo Bar (officially the Oxford Tavern) for open-mike blues night. Blues night, hosted each Thursday by Flatfoot Sam and the Educated Fools, features ambitious and talented locals (well, some are merely ambitious) and the occasional visiting blues legend, such as Charlie Sayles, who treats his harmonica like Jimi Hendrix treated his guitar.
Flatfoot Sam gets his cool "blues clothes" at Daddy-o's.com, a site he encourages everyone who admires his retro threads to visit. Thursday, April 18, 2002
The battle of the HVAC continuesOur freestanding reading-room chiller (affectionately known as the Blue Behemoth or Big Bertha) is still hors de combat during DC's record-breaking heat-wave. Relays of engineers peer into it solicitously, rattle with wrenches and depart. The trace on the hydrothermograph continues to resemble a Cedar Point roller-coaster.On the plus side, the view of the Mall from our west-facing window-wall is spectacular. The pale lacework of new foliage has replaced the cherry blossoms, but the azaleas, tulips and wisteria are out in full glory. Sunsets have been particularly poignant, with rays of gold light stabbing through the boiling cumuli. We lean on the window-sills and hope for a decent weekend.
It's time to rebuild the Marine Mammal Page. Considering that it's been static since 1997, it will be starting from scratch. Suggestions for material are welcome. I especially need new art and selkie links.
One topic that will definitely be included is the robot seal developed in Japan, and used as an emotional therapy tool for hospitalized children. The inventor, Takanori Shibata, also has developed a cat robot. He refers to these creations as artificial emotion creatures. [more information from Reuters] Wednesday, April 17, 2002
Like most Web-rambles, it started with one link. The New York Times ran an article on the odd things libraries have to catalog. And the Mouse sent me the URL, with the idea that I might want to include it in the department weblog. This reminded me that I already had a small hoard of links to collections real and virtual, which I had been planning to shape into an "examples of what we could be doing" page. I won't have time to do that in the next few weeks, but it's no trouble to start compiling them on my private log, experimenting with formats and categories. Strictly virtual collections
Tuesday, April 16, 2002
Explore the Universe, our new exhibit on astronomical exploration, has been reviewed by the Smithsonian's Office of Policy and Analysis. The review, available here in PDF format, is largely favorable but does have a few suggestions for improvement, such as "consider adding interactive and hands-on activities" and "research the attractive power of diorama exhibits". May of these visitors were struggling to fully understand the content. Ordinarily this might have aroused feelings of frustration or disappointment. Unlike in How Things Fly, where complex principles were presented in ways that visitors felt were accessible to children, even adults felt that parts of Explore the Universe were beyond them. Rather than blame the museum for this difficulty, they blamed themselves and the subject matter. Instead of giving them the impression that they, too, could be scientists, the exhibition tended to reinforce the idea that scientists were a breed apart, capable of understanding what is beyond ordinary people. The subject matter itself, the origin and nature of the universe, is so far from everyday experience that the inaccessibility of the content did not strike visitors as unreasonable. Some visitors even seemed pleased to encounter an exhibition that challenged them intellectually.It's encouraging that OPandA accepts that some subject matters can be challenging. We on the staff have been concerned that the emphasis at the Smithsonian is rapidly shifting from education to "edutainment". Sometimes the most important thing an exhibit can impart is a sense of awe and wonder. On the other hand... Women were significantly more likely to feel that more places to sit were needed than men.Given a choice between a place to sit and a man, which would you pick? But it's not charitable to fuss about OPandA's grammar. Shocked and amazed!Atomic Books, which has until now been blocked by the Smithsonian's net-nanny, is now visible! So are the Yahoo! soap opera updates, which had also been deemed Unsuitable for Government Employees. However, the Salon "Sex" section is still intercepted by the SI computer misuse warning message, so the thing has not been turned off altogether. One wonders if someone in high places has been complaining.Meanwhile, Building Management's attempts to turn on our building chillers has us searching for our earplugs. Spring has arrived in DC with a vengeance, and the NASM building, which was built "on time and under budget", has always had trouble with its HVAC systems. Monday, April 15, 2002
Gaijin resources!Gaijin, a foreigner in Japan, is one of eight new Japanese words to make it into the Collins English Dictionary this year. For an American studying Japanese language and culture, the concept of gaijin is fascinating and sometimes embarrassing. It must be infinitely worse for foreigners living in Japan, or indeed in any Asian country.Thomas Dillon, writing for The Japan Times, notes that you may be a gaijin if, for instance, you confuse the words for "closet" (oshiire) and "buttocks" (oshire). (One can learn these and many other useful words from the superb Japanese-English Dictionary Server.) In another column, Dillon speculates whether expats are the sort of person who can land on their feet anywhere, or perpetual losers. His companion complains: "Can you imagine any other nation on earth where people can earn money just by speaking their native tongue? I know this one fellow, for example, with no degrees and no common sense. Yet, this pair of doctors pays him 60,000 yen a month only to sit and speak English with them once a week ... while at the same time they cram him full of sirloin and beer. Criminal!"Actually, one can also live as an English-teaching expat in the People's Republic of China. A net-acquaintance of mine has been there about three years now. Ironically, his native tongue makes him more employable than his Ph.D. in Classics. Lester assures us that life in China is inexpensive and often adventurous. Still, given the choice, I would probably choose Japan. The Mighty Organ, a treasurehouse of non-traditional travel narratives, includes descriptions of gaijin poets in Nagasaki and the improbable nightlife of Tokyo. In the latter, Robert Turnbull notes: I had no problem finding King Yo, Roppongi's gaeginto (transvestite) cabaret -- I saw its bright neon penis from Macdonald's. Was it cabaret, satire or social criticism? I hadn't a clue.Neither do I. Of course I don't. I'm just a gaijin. Thursday, April 11, 2002
Woke up this mornin', Found Mei Xiang up in the tree. Woke up this mornin', Found Mei Xiang up in the tree. I know you're underage, babe, But see what you've done to me! 
(Mei Xiang in tree, Tian Tian in pool. It's the closest he can get to a cold shower, poor thing.) Images from the National Zoo's PandaCam. Tuesday, April 09, 2002
Infinity Express, the Einstein Planetarium's new show, had its media preview today. This is the first show using the Planetarium's new SkyVision whole-dome digital projection system. The results left me first wishing for a plate of Alice B. Toklas brownies, then feeling like I had just eaten one. The sequence our photo archivist christened "The still-imagery Vortex of Doom" left us all gripping our armrests.
Monday, April 08, 2002
I ran into a nice collection of links on Japan's new princess, Aiko Toshinomiya:
The name is based on a poem by Mencius: A person who loves others will be loved by others, and a person who respects others will always be respected by others.
The speaker-testing music was back this morning. While last week's selection was actually somewhat listenable, today's was a vacuous thousand-string arrangement of old pop tunes that would have been appropriate in a department store elevator. Not at all the sort of thing one associates with the Smithsonian.
Friday, April 05, 2002
From Asahi Shimbun: Doraemon becomes the subject of serious scholarship. Unfortunately, the database/concordance website is entirely in Japanese. Is March 16, 2880, the end of the world? There's a one-in-300 chance that kilometer-wide asteroid 1950 DA will hit us then. Unless we do something creative, like coat it with chalk or charcoal, attach an outboard motor to it, or shrink-wrap it in Mylar. [more] [still more] See orbits of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids, including 1950 DA, in a nifty little Java planetarium at the JPL site.
Sakura Matsuri -- the Cherry Blossom Festival -- actually coincides with the cherry blossoms this year. Unfortunately, the Mavica is broken, so I can't collect new pictures until I diagnose and fix it. I'm hoping it just needs a new Infolithium battery. It seems to be... deranged.
Here's the Washington Post's cherry blossom page. The parade and street festival are tomorrow. Time to use actual <gasp!> film? Thursday, April 04, 2002
Poor Tian and Mei. Check the PandaCam to see how they are handling their frustation. (The one sulking in the tree is probably Mei Xiang.)
Lovely amateur images of Comet Ikeya-Zhang, currently visible in the sky at sunset. It will be moving to the morning sky over the next few weeks. Here's NASA's official press release.
What is she thinking? The Kenyan lioness who adopted the baby oryx is at it again.
Just in from Nairobi: she defends her adopted cub from a group of lions. When she was nearly overpowered, the human observers stepped in and helped. Le coeur a ses raisons. The heart has its own reasons.
Amusing..., and not particulary surprising: American-style sushi comes to Japan! The New York Times reports. [registration required]
Incredibly cool! This year's Folklife Festival will be on the Silk Road, the historic trade route that stretched from Venice, Italy to Nara, Japan. Dates are June 26-30, and July 3-7. Time to finally volunteer? It's tempting.... [more]
Our film archivist called it ear pudding. The museum is now playing elevator music for an hour each morning to test the new PA system. This is, as my colleague noted, better than reading the history of the Hubble Space Telescope, which is what they did yesterday. Today it's soft jazz which would be at home in a quiet restaurant or an extremely upscale casino. I have to admit it does have a calming effect.
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