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Thursday, June 20, 2002
The Folklife Festival starts next weekWill the "Silk Road", the most ambitious Folklife Festival the Smithsonian has ever attempted, be ready to open on June 26? The logistical problems are daunting and range from the political (getting a passport for an Indian woodworker with no birth certificate) to the physical (transporting a 14-foot-tall Pakistani truck from Los Angeles to Washington, despite its being taller than the intervening overpasses) to the agricultural (borrowing Bactrian camels from Texas, since Tajik camels would not be able to clear quarantine in time.) With luck and skill and the Smithsonian's diplomatic clout, it should all come together. What's already out there looks gorgeous.Heroic pinniped saves elderly dogThis sort of thing isn't supposed to happen. Seals and dogs aren't usually that fond of each other. But a seal in the River Tees in northern England bridged the species gap and rescued an elderly German Shepherd from drowning. RSPCA officials speculate that the seal "could just have been playing." Right.(Thanks to Lisa for pointing this one out to me.) 
YahoosThe Party Animals public art project is already suffering from vandalism. About 15 of the 200 elephant and donkey sculptures decorated by local artists have required cleaning or repair.In other aerospace news...After a bitter fight, residents of the rural community of Empire Township, Michigan have voted to allow remote-controlled model planes, which had previously been banned by anti-noise ordinances. Dissenters worry that now there is nothing to stop "Hell's angels wanting to put in a race track." Wednesday, June 19, 2002
Two on cold reading:Mirabile dictu, it works with the dead, and with pets. (Mr Herrick would be so proud...)FuuriganThe Japanese are delighted to be co-hosting the World Cup, but they're understandably nervous about soccer hooligans, rendered as fuurigan in Japanese transliteration. Amy Chavez, who currently lives on tiny Shiraishi Island, was astonished when the local newspaper warned of an iminent fuurigan invasion, which might overwhelm the island's lone policeman.Fortunately, the problems have been minimal. In the first two weeks there have been only 64 arrests for improper behavior. The arrested scalpers, fuurigan, etc. included 40 Japanese, 12 Britons, three Irish, two Americans and two Argentines. Four Japanese youth were arrested "on suspicion of public obscenity" when they stripped naked and jumped into rivers to celebrate Japanese soccer victories. It will fly again!In Seattle, Boeing has decided to fully restore our Boeing 307 Stratoliner to flying condition. Damage from the crash last March [more] [images] is not as serious as was feared. Even with the cost of restoration, flying the plane across the country to NASM's new Hazy Center near Dulles Airport will be cheaper than transporting it by truck.
Hontooni warui tenki des', ne? The amazing thing is that it's so localized. It's been storming and thundering all morning. Meanwhile: Japanese class final tonight, another Atlantic City trip this weekend. The bookmarks are piling up. Cross fingers, knock wood, I'll have time for this next week. Monday, June 17, 2002
It may be tasteless, but it's perfectly legalTwo arming mechanisms from the Hiroshima atomic bomb were sold by Butterfields on Friday for $167,500 when a federal judge refused to block the sale. One of the mechanisms had armed the actual bomb, and the other was a backup. They had been removed from the Enola Gay by Morris Jeppson, a crew member, who put them up for auction on Tuesday. The purchaser, Clay Perkins, a physicist turned developer, plans to display the devices in his San Diego home.The Smithsonian, which owns the rest of the Enola Gay, as well as spare casings for atomic bombs "Fat Man" and "Little Boy", was offered a chance to purchase the devices in 1994, but declined. Friday, June 14, 2002
Will Japanese society detonate if married couples are allowed to retain different surnames? This question is being debated in all seriousness by Lower House subcommittee members belonging to the Commission on the Constitution, who are considering a proposal which would allow this. Some of them seem to think that all the ills of Western society spring from the desire of women to retain their own names. Asahi Shimbun columnist Shuichi Yutaka wryly points out that Japanese politicians, "geezer delinquents", are already thoroughly familiar with decadent behavior, without the provocation of independently-named women. The mysteries of the deep are not extinct. There are several distinctive sounds collected by deep-sea hydrophones whose cause is still unknown. These include the descriptively named Bloop, Train, Whistle, Slow Down and Upsweep. Some of these may be caused by ocean currents, volcanic activity or the movement of Antarctic ice. But others, notably the Bloop, are complete mysteries. Hydrophones off California Is it a giant squid? NOAA announces the "Sound in the Sea" project NOAA news summary, with links Sea sound recordings, including the Bloop Still looking for the Lord God BirdThe listening devices left last winter by the team searching for the ivory-billed woodpecker picked up sounds similar to the elusive bird's drumming. However, analysis of the sounds shows that they were only distant gunshots. [official press release]The team is still cautiously optimistic that the bird, which has not been officially sighted for fifty years, is not actually extinct. And the expeditions have inspired conservationists to lobby for forest managment techniques that would eventually restore the mature old-growth forest in which the ivory-bills thrived.
The 1.8 millions tons of debris at the Fresh Kills landfill are being re-sifted in a final effort at finding human remains and personal effects. But the operation is winding down. The 1,300 wrecked vehicles have been converted to scrap, and the ruined Rodins have been returned to their owner. And, while the US Department of Agriculture shoots off fireworks to repel scavenging seagulls and turkey vultures, Smithsonian curators scavenge the recovered artifacts for items worth preserving.
Thursday, June 13, 2002
Reptile rampages through TokyoIt was too small to be Godzilla. And it wasn't crushing any buildings. In fact, it only wanted to escape the hysterical Japanese who were chasing it.Fortunately, the 1.3-meter-long spectacled caiman was captured and delivered to the Edogawa Natural Zoo. Baby alligators are sold as pets in Japan, but they rapidly grow too big for tanks in apartments. Authorities figure that the four-year-old caiman was released by its owner when it became a nuisance. Everyone's an expertYou know how when you're watching a movie that touches on anything you actually know about, it's always laughable inaccurate? I've gotten used to sighing and rolling my eyes at Hollywood's portrayal of computers, invertebrates, museums in general, the Smithsonian in particular, and the geography of San Francisco. But, not being particularly bird-literate, it never occured to me that Hollywood has no idea what sort of avifauna might be in particular locations at particular seasons and times of day.Robert Winkler, writing for Salon.com, does know better, and he's bothered by it. He points out that according to Hollywood, there are loons hooting through the fog of suburban neighborhoods and North American hawks screeching on islands in the South Pacific. He suggests that film production companies hire ornithological consultants, as well as experts on period costume and furniture. A possible source of income for NMNH? Japanese number-mnemonicsGoro-awase, reading series of numbers as easily-remembered phrases, is common habit in Japan. One reason is that the same digits can be read as different syllables, which multiplies the number of possible phrases that can be applied to them.The number 1, for example, can be read "hi," "hito," "hitotsu," "ichi," "i" and--borrowing from the English--"wan." The number 2 can be read "fu," "futatsu," "ni," and "tsu"; 3 is "mi," "mitsu," "sa," "san" and "tsurii."Business phone numbers may include an informative combination of numbers: a dentist's number ending in 6480 ("mu-shi-ba-zero" or "no cavities") or a men's clothier whose number ends in 1129 "i-i-fu-ku" (nice duds). The author of the article notes that his birthday, Nov. 10, has been designated "Toire-no-Hi", Toilet Day (a day dedicated to improving sanitary facilities) because 11-10 can be read "i-i toire" (nice toilet). Wednesday, June 12, 2002
If you have a fire and nobody sees it, does it count?The thing that produced lots of smoke in the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) yesterday morning was put out by the DC Fire Department. They claim it was a fire. Smithsonian spokespeople are not so sure. Whatever it was, the museum was briefly evacuated while the smoke-producing entity was extinguished.Thanks, a lot, guysWhen the Center for Strategic and International Studies created a disaster scenario for the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, they came up with the idea of a dirty bomb exploded in front of the National Air and Space Museum, where your friendly pinniped works . [more disaster]Certainly anyone who has worked here has considered the possibility that we're a prime terrorist target. We provide the attractive combination of
Tuesday, June 11, 2002
Speaking of archaeology...
Smithsonian anthropologists and the HunleyDoug Owsley, a Smithsonian Institution forensic anthropologist working on the Hunley project in Charleston, displayed Lt. George Dixon's gold watch for reporters. [more] The watch should give the exact time that the Civil War submarine sank. It has not yet been opened, pending conservation assessment. Monday, June 10, 2002
Two on dreamsA review of The Dream Drugstore, Allan Hobson's new book which compares the altered states produced by drugs with those of dreams.A BBC report of a study linking dream content to your taste in books. (Not terribly deep, but intriguing.) Japan On FootEtsuko Simabukuro and Mary King have been on the road over a year now. Their original plan had been to take a year to hike from Hokkaido to Okinawa, publicizing HELP, an anti-domestic violence organization in Tokyo. But they kept having adventures--they met a bear, firewalked with yamabushi (mountain ascetics), were questioned as suspected terrorists after 9/11, gorged themselves on whale meat, visited a toilet museum, and sang all night in karaoke bars. They have slept on floors, in bus shelters, railway stations and in a cemetery. And, since they are thoroughly modern pilgrims, their adventures are available online.
Friday, June 07, 2002
Good heavens! Terrorists are planning to blow up the Smithsonian's wet collections!
That was the rationale for keeping $2 million for improved wet-collection storage in the counterterrorism bill currently making its way through Congress. Also covered: mapping Hawaiian corals reefs, flood relief, subsidies for farmers' markets and language directing the Agriculture Department to continue federal honey bee research. [more]
Meanwhile, a USDA employee in Florida tells of an hour-long meeting with terrorist mastermind Mohamed Atta, during which he requested a loan to buy a crop-dusting plane on which he planned to install oversized chemical tanks, offered to buy an aerial photo of Washington, D.C. from her office wall, asked about security at the World Trade Center and declared that Osama bin Laden would someday be known as the world's greatest leader. She now realizes she should have suspected something was amiss. (She did, however, deny him the loan.) Thursday, June 06, 2002
What's your race?Matt Kelley, a Seattle resident of mixed ancestry, describes how it feels to be a mirror for other people's expectations.It would be nice if this were merely an abstract observation, but four airlines have been sued for ejecting brown-skinned passengers because their presence made other passengers nervous. Only two of the five men bringing the suits were actually of Arab descent. None of them had done anything threatening. James Lileks, who is normally one of my heroes, states that he really doesn't care. Japanese food linksShe has a knife, and she knows how to use it Women are now entering the previously male-only ranks of sushi chefs. So are non-Asians. Sushi, like anime, has become part of global culture.The corn dog's Japanese cousin Kushikatsu, battered fried pork on a stick, is now sold in New York City. How long before it appears on the Atlantic City boardwalk? Onigiri Usually translated as "rice balls", these traditional Japanese snacks are much more interesting. Recipes for basic onigiri and yaki-onigiri Wednesday, June 05, 2002
A small step for webkind...The webcounter on the home page reached 100 this morning. I wasn't there to see it click over--I had taken the morning off to view a house.Which leads to my next observation: it's amazing what sells for half-a-million dollars these days, inside (or, in this case, just outside) the Beltway. To the seller's credit, it's a lovely renovation job. By the strange mathematics of realtors, it has 5 bedrooms. (I would have said three, if one were the indentured servant's quarters.) Piped-in music (no no no no!), a Jacuzzi tub (yes!), two fireplaces, one converted to gas (one yes!, one no!) and a bidet in the master bathroom (one "You've got to be kidding!") The main point in its favor was it's near the Mouse. The main point against it (besides the piped-in music and the bidet) was the $525,000 price tag. By Fannie Mae's criteria, I would need an income of $200,000 to qualify for a mortgage. Sorry folks--gummint datybase perogrammers don't make that kinda money. At least I don't need to spend the afternoon scrambling for a mortgage loan. Tuesday, June 04, 2002
Women in JapanA collection of recent links, with some background material.Housewife sex: for richer, for whorer Now, that's a headline you would probably never see in an American newspaper. It's even more surprising to see it in a Japanese newspaper. The article describes a growing number of housewives who work in brothels during the day to make extra spending money: Belle de Jour in Japanese. Women behind bars: living a strict existence in a silent world This is an article on women's prisons, which are growing more crowded all the time. Most of the inmates were arrested for abusing stimulant drugs, which they started taking as diet pills. Death does them part (wives make sure of that) A small but potent rebellion by Japanese wives is insisting that they not be buried with their husbands. This is more radical than it sounds; Japanese cemeteries require that someone take responsibility for maintaining the grave, and this usually means descendants. Women are now forming burial societies to provide long-term maintenance. [more] Some background material on Japanese funerals. Japanese women staying in touch with their inner virgin The Japanese word is otome, which to my mind translates better as "maiden", with its implication of spiritual purity, than "virgin". The otome has taste and modesty and a quiet beauty. She is the role-model for an increasing number of young and not-so-young Japanese women. An otome is also probably not going to be very active on the dating scene. Japanese men are a bit frustrated with this movement, which can be read as a very Japanese form of passive agression. Mourning my miscarriage One of a large number of articles in the western press on temples to the bodhisattva Jizo, in which women may dedicate baby-like stone statues (Mizuko Jizo) to dead babies, miscarriages and abortions. The members of the Japanese expatriate group Zipangu, in their book Japan Made In U.S.A. take violent exception to such articles, which they claim misrepresent the true feelings of revulsion which these temples evoke in most Japanese. Columnist Henry Scott-Stokes comments on the book, and on this issue in particular. And finally, a series of links on Chizuko Ueno, famous Japanese feminist and one of my heroes:
Ueno was also one of the contributors to Japan Made In U.S.A., mentioned above. The Egyptians are coming!The largest collection of antiquities Egypt has ever sent to the United States goes on display at the National Gallery of Art on June 30. The exhibit, called "The Quest for Immortality: Treasures of Ancient Egypt," is centered on artifacts related to "the Napoleon of Egypt", Pharaoh Thutmose III [more], who ruled Egypt from about 1479 to 1425 B.C. Monday, June 03, 2002
James Lileks, whose usual fare includes postcards of 1950's diners and pages from deplorable cookbooks, has just added a gallery of the WWI cartoons of Abian Walgren. Walgren's dry commentary includes such gems as: "Never stop a shell with your hands unless your feet are securely clamped to some stationary object -- otherwise you will accompany the shell with sudden and spontaneous rapidity, in a direction contrary to your wishes; and as this has some appearances of retreating, it is considered very bad form." |
