Crib Notes

Kid furniture! All we're missing is a noisy and smelly little monkey.

Goodbye, 'Lander.

It's interesting how certain people, places, events, media, etc. can catch us as just the right developmental phase and plant a deep seed of affection. One example in my case, as my friends can attest: I was a huge fan of the movie Highlander. I first saw the original film as part of a cinema immersion over at Jason and Ryan's house, sandwiched between -- and I am 100% certain that my memory is faulty on this one -- Lethal Weapon and Raw Deal. I was hooked immediately and rented it from the Video Station the next night to watch with Dad (it was important, you see, to share my discovery).

I suppose that my immediate fascination was borne of that perfect storm of goofy production values, pseudo-epic mythology, quasi-martial arts, location shots in Scotland, and the bizarre coolness of marble-mouthed Chris Lambert (who, just to burst your bubble, was actually born in Great Neck, New York). Any freudian readings of my interest that center on a fascination with two sweaty, male, warriors swordfighting involves issues nicely repressed, thank you. Since then, I've seen the original movie dozens of times, and I've seen every one of the theatrical versions in the theaters on their opening weekend. I have seen every episode of the television series and can quote blah-blah, etc., etc... I don't need to belabor my Highlander-cred; Just accept that it holds a dear place in my heart.

Which brings me to Highlander: The Source. I don't have the heart or motivation to really review this thing, but suffice it to say that it was really, really, bad. All of the threats to a film's potential quality that come from issues like multiple directors and screenwriters, shoe-string budgets, the weight of leaden narrative continuity, multi-national production "support," B- list actors, derivative plots, etc. created a volatile cesspit of quality that, when sparked by at least three horrible ideas for breaking new ground with the core concept, ignited into a conflagration of cinematic crap. I've known for a while that there really don't seem to be any more Highlander stories to tell, and this movie, unfortunately, proved it. The "rules" of a Highlander movie -- part of what made it so cool to a 13-year-old -- define a very specific, and limited, storytelling environment. I'm absolutely certain that The Source has killed Highlander for the time being, just as I bet the people (Panzer and Davis; one of whom, I think, is now dead (which must make for some odd business meetings)) that own the rights will decide that the only way to spin up the engine on their derailed money train will be to remake the original one of these days. Shrug.

If nothing else, The Source is a fitting cap for my Highlander experience, the firebomb to balance out that long-ago hurricane of my interest and excitement. "Who wants to live forever?" indeed.

Finally, Humphrey will be ready for his journey to Mordor*

"Organic Armor"







*This headline was stolen almost directly from Gizmodo.

Am sick.

Most likely this little guy (Yersinia pestis)'s fault.

Hair IV: The Revenge

Andi's newest (coolest) hair, and our in-utero white-noise generator (the cat, not the laptop ;):

On the subject of the Duke City

OK, first of all, I committed the rookie mistake of composing this post in the blog editor and then trying to edit the html without saving a copy. As a result, this is the second version of this post and, accordingly, it will be 40% less impassioned and 28% less entertaining to read than the first iteration. Sorry about that.

Anyway, the trip was good and it was excellent to see the Prescotts. On the other hand, Albuquerque, itself, was... Fine. And not in the literal sense, but in the colloquial one. I think that I was hoping to be pleasantly surprised, but that didn't really happen. Oh well, we all know how useful expectations usually are.

Without further adieu, here are a few quick impressions.

Con Mexico:

1. Not only is it in the desert, it's in the ugly desert. There is little rain and there can't possibly be seasons in the sense that I like seasons.
2. Without a constant influx of water and power from outside sources, the region would almost immediately become only slightly less habitable than Mare Tranquillitatis.
3. The housing prices are ridiculously high -- It might not be the most objective opinion, but I sort of had the thought that Albuquerque should meet prospective homeowners halfway by cutting them a serious price break. I mean, it is Albuquerque. Right?
   
4. There is no kayaking.
5. It isn't a particularly pretty or interesting city.
   
6. The ocean is approximately 43,926 miles away.
7. The library school is rather small, and there isn't a doctoral program for IS or LS in the region.
   
8. There are no real trees in the Duke City, only plywood stage props left over from 1950s westerns.
   

Probuquerque:

1. Ryan helpfully pointed out that pending global climatic change may cause Albuquerque to transform from blasted wasteland into a verdant, tropical, eden.
   
2. Andi's potential job sounds really good.
3. There seem to be a lot more librarian job opportunities than I'd thought.
4. Santa Fe, Taos, and the NM mountains are really not very far from ABQ.
   
5. It is within a day's drive of Colorado, and also much closer to my families on the west coast.
6. It is a city, of sorts, and has all of the urban amenities that we might want.
7. It would be cool to live near Ryan and crew.
   
8. It is somewhat of a blank canvas for us.

So, at the end of the day (and it is the end of the day), this is all still somewhat academic, as we need to wait for a job offer and a few other variables to come into line before we can start making decisions about our moving strategy. On the other hand, we have both known unknowns and unknown unknowns due for delivery in a few short months, and Andi and I would both like to start getting a few ducks ready to row.

Well, that's the Cliff Notes version. Now you know, and, as they say, knowing is half the battle.

A pack of elusive Prescotts...

...distant cousins of the even-more-rare Three-Toed Drew (see the tireless cryptozoological efforts of Dr. Ian King for more on that strange species), here witnessed in their native Albuquerque:













Am, at the moment, pretty tired. I'll update tomorrowish.

Andihair

Important (from BB? Sorry, I lost the source)

Lazy Labor Day Eve

We had a pretty chill Labor Day Eve today, mostly just some putzing, errands, and school-stuff (with some exercise and video games in there, too). Tomorrow, Andi's hair takes another step on the trail to shortness -- I will take and post pictures. All is well.

More importantly, we're busy trimming the Labor Ladder with bedazzled time-cards while listening to some Good Times reruns in the background. Tonight, we're going to leave out some donuts and Folgers in hopes that Comrade Yuri will put some chocolate gold watches and pre-compiled WFTU 3092 -R Requisition forms under the Ladder.

Hmm. If I hadn't been staring at the computer for a couple of hours, already, I'd probably make more of an effort to funny that up.

In other news, here are a few random photos:

• Jordan Lake on Anna's Birthday
• Where I work

The gift that keeps on dewing it

My Mountain Dew sweepstakes entries paid off yet again! I am now the proud owner of a themed hoodie, which I will certainly wear with pride to all future weddings, graduations, and Bar Mitzvahs.

One of these days, I'll post something more informative, I promise.

OK, check that. No promises.

And we're off! Classes have begun.

I had my first class this afternoon. It was great to be back on campus in student-mode, although the hot and sticky (yet inexplicably dry) weather made for a bit of unpleasantness on the busing and walking fronts. This semester will be an interesting mix of fairly advanced (for me, anyway) theory, research method training, and practical skill development. I think that the class I'm most looking forward to is Preservation, which has to do with stuff like this.

On the work front, I'm still getting my bearings, but it, so far, mostly has to do with stuff like:

• Answering reference questions, mostly scientific stuff.
• Verifying citations.
• Query building and database searching (PubMed and Web of Science and whatnot).
• Traditional library stuff: Checking materials in and out, as well as a little bit of indexing and cataloging.

I have one ongoing project, which has to do with making a little spreadsheet or DB to allow for the Director to produce reports about relative impact ratings for NIEHS-authored publications. Kinda cool.

I reckon that's about it for now. Carry on.

briefly

...We're neck-deep in one of those really lovely late-summer Chapel Hill evenings, wherein the heat feels like a gentle, orange, massage and the clear sky winks an afternoon-long, golden, wink. I'm a cold-weather kind of guy, but this is nothing to sneeze at.

In other news, life is good. Piper's wounded toe is mending, the boys are, well, fuzzy, and Andi seems well.

Oh, a quick media rundown:

• We saw Superbad today: A tiny bit uneven, but very good.
• I was inspired by the Adobe-art-installation-revelation the other day to read The Crying of Lot 49: MUCH better than I'd expected.
• Currently reading The Ruins: Shrug.
• I finally beat Woman on Hard mode, thereby enabling a new foray into Guitar Hero II madness.
• Watched Hackers, thanks to the DVR, this weekend: It made my brain-meat hurt.

Scanners!

(But without the exploding heads.)

Well, Andrea braved a variety of strange tortures today and, rather than a lousy t-shirt, we now have additional ultrasound images:

Unfortunately, as you can see, my scan of the scan came out rather poorly. I suppose that's appropriate, however, as the theme of the morning (and afternoon, for Andi) was imaging difficulty.

Although this image doesn't really convey what we saw, it was really, actually, quite amazing to see functional organs, limbs, and activity. Quite astonishing, and very thrilling, for we newbies. It is, indeed, a tiny human being.









Until we get better images, I managed to commission this artist's concept sketch of how the kid/spud/baby/lump/Kwisatz Haderach/whoever-s/he-is might appear later in life, based on the early images. I think the kid takes after my side of the family:


(Unfortunately, I couldn't get the same guy that helped me with Julie's boyfriend's picture, but this is still pretty good. I can't wait to show it to her when she's a 16-year-old post-neo-goth: "You think you're gloomy and macabre now? When you were 13 weeks old, your head looked like a frickin' skull and you drank blood all day!")






In other news, today was my second day at the NIEHS library, which is part of my EPA rotation. It's pretty cool so far -- More on that scene, later.