-
the fury of tech support
Someone removed the LNB from our Dish Network satelite dish. (The LNB, or "feedhorn," is the box at the end of the arm that actually does the receiving of the signal that bounces off the dish. It is the most important part of the system.) We have several theories: a thief, a vandal, or a technician who was supposed to cancel our neighbor's service ( Read more... ) -
our anniversary
It is elemmire7's and my anniversary today. Ironically, I need to head off to a weekend conference in a few hours, so we decided to celebrate it yesterday. The logic is that if this year were a proper 365 day year, then yesterday would indeed be our anniversary. We went hiking in the Pisgah National Forest, had a picnic up in the Blue Ridge, went looking ( ( Read more... ) -
reading sci fi books for work
I read an interesting sci fi book yesterday for class. (I'm teaching a religion & science fiction class next fall, so part of my job this summer is reading lots of sci fi books and short stories.)
The book was Kirinyaga, by Mike Resnick. It is about an attempt in the 22nd century by Kenyan traditionalists to establish a tribal utopia on a distant ( Read more... ) -
this is your skull on drugs
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Authorities in Texas have filed corpse-abuse charges against two men who allegedly removed a skull from a grave and used it as a bong ( Read more... ) -
why commas matter
I just read that conservative-darling Mike Huckabee is starting his own political action committee. His announcement includes a statement that his group will stand for, and I quote, "tax reform, a strong national defense, real border security, life, the family, less government and individual liberty ( Read more... ) -
Storming the polygamists in Texas
I was just reading this article on the recent government raid of a Fundamentalist Latter-day Saint (FLDS / Fundamentalist Mormon) community in Texas. In addition to raising all sorts of reminders of Waco, it is interesting to me to read the comments that readers left on the article. We scholars of new religions are very pleased with ourselves for ( Read more... ) -
i'm still here!
It must have been a month since I've posted last, but I'm still here. On the one hand, very little has been happening that is at all remarkable (I teach, I grade, I teach, I attend committee meetings, I teach, I go to a conference, I teach some more). On the other hand, so much of that sort of stuff has been happening that I seldom have enough ( Read more... ) -
my geeky side shows
It is a sad day today, for two reasons: Gary Gygax, creator of D&D, died. I've played D&D in various forms of about 20 years, and met some of my best friends through the game. Also today, Brett Favre, the iron man of football who I watched play all through high school, college, and graduate school, has retired. He played through injuries, family ( Read more... ) -
meme
dharmafool has tagged me, and social conventions demand that I reply ( Read more... )
