Map of Moundville

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Notice the palisade perimeter and the strategic placement of the mounds. A river assault up the bluff was ill advised, and an invading force would find a fortified mound tough going.

Moundville

Moundville, near Tuscaloosa, Alabama, a Native American community from 1000 CE - 1400 CE.
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Tanya, Ana, and Joy

May 2005, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Getting Ana for this photo involved lots of door banging and yelling for her to wake up. After waking Ana, no small task at the crack of noon, I had to endure her howls of outrage followed by a very unnerving scowl. I used a cross and holy water and herded Ana outside. Click photo to see more.

Star Wars (Lego Version)

The trilogy presented in the Lego medium: LEGO STAR WARS TRILOGY

Mitch Hedberg Appreciation

I think Pizza Hut is the cockiest pizza chain on the planet, because Pizza Hut will accept all competitors' coupons. That makes me wish I had my own pizza place. "Mitch's Pizzaria ... This week's coupon: unlimited free pizza. Special Note: coupon not good at any of the Mitch's Pizza locations. Free pizza oven with purchase of a small Coke. Two-for Tuesday: buy one pizza, get one franchise free." --Mitch Hedberg

I didn't even know that Mitch Hedberg had died. Slate's Sam Anderson notes his passing.
Claire Mazur wrote a very touching remembrance.

I was a latecomer to his humor, but enjoyed seeing his stand up on Comedy Central. He had a laid back comedy style and infectious smile. OK, I admit that I was thrilled having a tousled namesake who became animated when delving into the complexities of logic and language. Mitch Hedberg was delightful in a way that hadn't been seen since Steve Martin in the 1970s. Whimsy, zaniness, and an honest connection with the audience were Mitch Hedberg's special traits.

If you haven't heard Mitch Hedberg, Rhapsody has his album "Mitch All Together."

Acid really messes with your mind, man. When I was on acid, I'd see things that looked like beams of light... and I'd hear things that sound an awful lot like car horns...

Create a Dalek!

Looks easy enough: CBBC - Blue Peter - Things To Do - Make a Dalek

Then again, I never had much luck with those Blue Peter projects as a kid. I'd send away for the plans to make a model boat or glider and hoped to make something like they showed on television. In my case, the plans might've well been called "Kindling You Can Make with a Saw and Hammer in Only Two Weeks!"

One of the enduring mysteries of Dr. Who centers on the Daleks (the other mystery was why Dr. Who goes through the body morphing transformation when contracts come due for re-negotiation), and I don't mean their fixation on conquering Earth or relative ease, considering their lack of lower extremities, in abducting Dr. Who's current cute, nubile sidekick. Everything about the Daleks was covered in several thousand episodes of Dr. Who, except why the Daleks looked so convincing as opposed to the rest of the Dr. Who show. For heaven's sake, Dr, Who lived in police call box, and the Cybermen had whiffle balls glued on. It turns out that the Daleks comprised a years worth of prop budget and represented quite a gamble for the BBC, which paid off tremendously. Any series with the Daleks was well worth watching, even to the point of putting up with how Dr. Who and his friends would split up, get into trouble and miss running into each other for 12 episodes.

The Daleks were cunning, resourceful evil beings, always single minded. They provided the first real glimpse of an complex alien life that was different than our own (let's face it Dr. Who was an alien only if there was a planet Fruitcake). They were a marvelous role model for me. R2D2 is a total wuss in comparison. Besides, what kid can't imitate the Dalek war cry of "Exxxterrminate all humans!" ?

MIT Students Host Time Traveler Convention

Visitors from the future welcome! This, of course, assumes that the dweeb gene manages somehow to be carried on, no doubt by other than normal means of reproduction: Time travelers to meet in not too distant future CNET News.com: "CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Suppose it is the future--maybe a thousand years from now. There is no static cling, diapers change themselves, and everyone who is anyone summers on Mars.
What's more, it is possible to travel back in time, to any place, any era. Where would people go? Would they zoom to a 2005 Saturday night for chips and burgers in a college courtyard, eager to schmooze with computer science majors possessing way too many brain cells?
Why not, say some students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who have organized what they call the first convention for time travelers.
Actually, they contend that theirs is the only time traveler convention the world needs, because people from the future can travel to it anytime they want. "

Future So Bright, Going to Need Sunglasses

Now the problem is global brightening: Earth has become brighter, but no one is sure why CNET News.com: "The new papers also call attention to a major gap in the understanding of climate. Scientists do not exactly know what caused the dimming and the brightening, or how they affect the rest of the climate system.
Earth reflects about 30 percent of the incoming sunlight back into space. Slight changes in the reflectivity, possibly caused by changes in cloud cover and air pollution, can have as much impact on the climate as heat-trapping greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide.
Some scientists say that the dimming and the brightening might explain why for many years temperatures on Earth lagged what was predicted by many climate models and then shot upward more recently."

Plato on Fencing Masters

The Internet Classics Archive Laches, or Courage by Plato:
"I have encountered a good many of these gentlemen in actual service, and have taken their measure, which I can give you at once; for none of these masters of fence have ever been distinguished in war,-there has been a sort of fatality about them; while in all other arts the men of note have been always those who have practised the art, they appear to be a most unfortunate exception. "

Plato goes on to describe a fencing master who invents a new weapon, a combination scythe-spear, and tries it out in combat with hilarious results.

Cinco de Mayo History

Great explanation of Cinco de Mayo:Cinco de Mayo History
Also mentions that the U.S, government, otherwise tangled up in the Civil War, managed to covertly supply Juarez with arms and soldiers. I especially liked how the author points out that Mexicans have also come north of the border to join cause against our enemies. Que viva!

When I was a kid and lived in Laredo, I remember that holidays on the other side of the border had more zest and color. Day of the Dead beat Halloween, and the Mexican children wore their costumes on other holidays. I recall Columbus Day and Independence Day celbrations in Nuevo Laredo, but quite frankly I don't remember that there was such a big deal about Cinco de Mayo. I think the holiday has less to do with beating the French (no big bragging rights there), than a rallying point for the Hispanic community in the U.S, southwest. It's a Mexican St. Patrick's Day, and, let's face it, Americans love drinking holidays.

Let us all salute and toast our Mexican amigos on Cinco de Mayo!

The Hulk Problem

At home with a head cold Monday and watched the Hulk movie. I wasn't too hard to please by then, so the question is why was the Hulk so awful?

Possible reasons:

• Too much back story
• Betty? Bruce? Characters names are a generation off (see Freakonomics for a discussion of people's names and economic consequences)
• The Hulk doesn't really do anything interesting other than beat up a mutant poodle and toss things around
• They're called movies, not boring monologies
• The 70s show was more fun (sort of a Green Fugitive)
• CGI ruins story flow
• Enough with the psychedelia, dream sequences, and flashbacks

Inherent problems with the Hulk: the comic book character started as a coherent super hero, complete with sidekick, then degenerated into a primitive and paranoid character only able to say things like, "Puny humans! Argh! Hulk pissed!" This was interesting and great concept for a few issues, but then it dragged on for years. Growth is always the better way to go for a continuing series.