A Devil of a Time on the Coast

On Friday evening, I headed up the road to Portland to celebrate my cousin's birthday. After my obligatory trip to Powell's the next morning, I decided to take the scenic route back to Eugene and drove out to the coast. You couldn't ask for a better day to take a trip to the Oregon Coast. It was windy enough to throw up some fairly impressive surf and the tide was particularly low, always a plus if you like tidepooling or beachcombing. Most importantly, it was bizarrely sunny and warm: 65 degrees according to a bank reader board in Newport (though a second sign in the same town said it was 18 below). I decided to spend most of the afternoon at the beaches below Cape Perpetua, one of the more imposing headlands along the central coast. It turned out to be well worth it, largely because of the Devil's Churn. The Devil's Churn is a surge channel, one of the wave-cut fissures that crop up all along the coast and often make for spectacular interplays between water and rock. I've seen my share of surge channels (during my summer of fieldwork on Tatoosh Island, we had to leap a pretty good-sized one almost every day), but this one is unique. Though it's fairly normal in terms of depth, it is both extremely long and extremely narrow (just a few feet wide in places). Because the Devil's Churn is so long, it runs far up into a ravine on the face of the cape, and because it is so narrow, it channels a massive amount of tidal energy into a roiling, frothing maelstrom (hence its name). Even on a warm, sunny day conducive to cheerfulness, it's a creepy place. It's perpetually in shade, the walls of the ravine are continuously dripping with water, and the rocks around the edges form weird, sharp-edged figures. Perhaps uncanniest of all is the sound of it: when a large surge hits the channel, it runs up to the end and smashes into it with an audible crash. This is pretty normal for a surge channel, but because of the sheer ravine walls on either side, the noise echoes around impressively with a sound like a kettle drum; you can actually feel the concussion. My point here is that if you're looking for a taste of the sublime (in the literal sense of the word) and you happen to be in the vicinity of Florence, Oregon, this is one you shouldn't miss. For those of you with less of a taste for such things, I can vouch for the rest of the beaches around there being very nice on a sunny day. Either way, it's worth the trip; so, dear readers, when are you coming to visit?

How do you keep the music playing?

I'd like to depart from my usual ramblings for just one post, because one of the seminal figures in my life died yesterday, and I want to do my small part to honor him. Many of you have probably never heard of Floyd Standifer, but it would not be an exaggeration to say that he was the heart and soul of jazz in Seattle. He also was one of the founders of The Northwest School and led the jazz ensemble there for somewhere in the vicinity of two decades. I had the inestimable privilege of playing trombone for Floyd for seven years, and much of my love of and appreciation for music is due to him. Besides just putting into words my sincere appreciation for the personal benefits I reaped from him, I can attest that Floyd was a truly remarkable person. His life's story is a fascinating one, and makes for a good read. However, if you really want to appreciate Floyd, look up one of his albums: you'll seldom hear a sweeter-sounding trumpet, flugelhorn, or sax, and you'll never hear another musician who loved what they did more than Floyd Standifer. So, to a classy human being, an excellent teacher, and a musician of the highest caliber, thanks for everything, Floyd. You will be missed.

Denouncing Dr. Dino

This news is a few days old now, but as many of you may have heard, infamous Creation "scientist" Kent "Dr. Dino" Hovind has just been sentenced to 10 years in prison for tax evasion. Apparently he had claimed that he didn't have to pay taxes because everything he owned belonged to God. I'm not writing this to poke fun at Hovind (though if you want a laugh at his expense, check out the back of an "educational" children's placemat he put together a few years back); rather, I'm writing it because I am decidedly partisan in the battle between Education and Ignorance, and I certainly didn't want to pass up the chance to point out the glaring hypocrisy of the latter side. Of course, I'm no theologian, but I know enough about the Bible to know that the issue of taxation is specifically raised in its pages, and that even a good Christian should "render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's." So, effectively, Hovind is going against both Biblical and United States law, and yet he makes himself out to be some sort of martyr. The scary thing is, people believe him! Just look at some of the comments people have posted on the article I linked to at the top of this entry. They say he's a good man, and that should excuse him from being punished for being greedy (one of the Seven Deadly Sins, I might add). They're effectively saying that it's OK if you don't actually act as the Bible says just so long as you say you do, which is just about the most un-Christian thing I can think of. At any rate, it's nice to see that for once one of these creeps got caught. Lest we forget, though (and because I like ending on an ominous and melodramatic note), figures like Hovind are just pawns in this game; there are far more insidious and effective forces out there on the side of Ignorance, and I fear the people at the Discovery Institute are far too clever to ever get caught at tax evasion...

I have a master's degree...in science!

A brief, albeit disproportionately eventful, chapter of my life ended today. Fifteen and a half months ago, I headed off to the University of Bristol. This morning, I got an email from the head of the palaeobiology master's program there to make it official: the final grades are in for my thesis, and I passed, meaning that I am now entitled to add three extra letters to my name (yes, that's right, three: that's one of the overlooked benefits of getting a British MSc rather than an American MS). I hope you all don't mind me patting myself on the back a bit, but it's not everyday I actually get to revel in the glorious feeling of accomplishment. Mind you, sending an Anglophile paleontologist to a England for a year to study fossils hardly constitutes torture, so I really can't claim I suffered much. I also did well enough in the classes there that there was never any real danger of not receiving my degree. Still, to have started something that big and to have finished - especially after having been out of academics for a few years - is a very nice feeling. That's all I have to say about that for now; back to my normal, self-deprecating self tomorrow.

Snowfall

Sure enough, it snowed last night and sure enough, the city of Eugene came to a screeching halt this morning. Every school and college in town was closed for the day (except, of course, the U of O, which apparently hasn't had a snow day in decades). Still, I had just enough free time to take a stroll to take a walk through the woods up the hill (yes, I have a forest behind my house, yet another reason why you all need to come visit more often) to snap a few photos as promised yesterday. My whining about local snow driving abilities (or lack thereof) aside, Eugene does look very nice under a coat (well, really more of a dusting) of snow.
Also, I read what I thought was an interesting article on the Chicago Tribune's website today about how democrats are hoping to gain a lot of ground in Western states, particularly Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada. Of course, I'm not at all qualified to opine on politics, but I think it's a splendid idea. Despite appearances to the contrary, I've long thought that it's fertile ground for fiscally conservative but socially liberal democrats. Here's hoping; as the article points out, the West could make the difference in 2008.

I was dreaming of a white Christmas, and all I got was this lousy white Treaty of Versailles Day...

As I write this, Eugene is crippled under the onslaught of what passes for a major blizzard in these parts. I have something like half an inch of snow in my yard right now, with periodic minor flurries still passing through now and then. This wasn't enough to deter a large group of particularly brazen-looking racoons that I spotted out of my window earlier, but it's enough to spook all the locals into thinking they'll have to miss work tomorrow. As you all know, I love the Northwest to the point where I start becoming horribly depressed if I spend too long anywhere else. However, we Northwesterners do have out faults, and one of them is that we really have no idea how to handle snow. In Chicago, there could be an order of magnitude more snow on the ground, and there would be absolutely no talk of anyone missing work; the snowplows would be out that night and the streets would be back to their usual crowded selves the next morning. Here, though, even the mention of snow is enough to get professors to collect everyone's emails so that they can send out a cancellation notice for their class. Of course, we hardly ever get snow here, so this is at least somewhat understandable; I doubt most Chicagoans would know what to do if it rained steadily for a month. Also, we have hills here, which makes getting around on icy roads considerably more difficult. It also, along with the larger number of trees here, makes for a much nicer looking snowfall than has ever graced the Midwest (or at least the urban Midwest). So, while snow in Hyde Park always put me in a foul and complaining mood, I'll admit I was actually kind of glad to see that the flurries they had predicted this week actually made it without turning into rain on the way. Expect pictures tomorrow if I am able to find photography time between classes...

Merry Un-Christmas!

Well, as you're all no doubt aware, today was Epiphany (or, if you prefer, Three Kings Day), the last day of Christmas. I kid, of course. No one ever seems to be aware of that. Oh well. At any rate, the tree's down, the decorations are packed up, and it's time to reflect on a fairly remarkable Christmas. In the last 12 days I've sold my old car, bought a new (used) one, spent a relaxing New Years in the San Juans, and adopted a cat named Dabby (special thanks to Michael for the name suggestion; it may be meaningless, but somehow it just fits). Tomorrow it's back down to Eugene for a quarter of GIS, geobiology, petrology, and perhaps even potoroo teeth. The fun just never stops!

Auld Lang Syne

This final post of the year comes to you live from my favorite place: Lopez Island. Looking back, I can unhestitatingly say that this has been the most ambiguous year of my life. It would not be a huge stretch to say that the very best and the very worst moments of my life happened in the last twelve months. Since I have so few readers, I don't want to scare any away with excessive negativity, so I'll just focus on the positives. First of all, I spend most of the year in Britain, which for an anglophile such as myself is pretty sweet. I also love traveling, and I set a record for countries visited (7; 9 if you count Wales and Scotland as separate from England) that I doubt I'll ever break. Of course, it's not all about quantity, but let me assure you that these were quality trips as well: paleontology in Ottawa, art in Madrid, Easter in Germany, Viking ships in Denmark, finding the England that I thought existed only in fiction in Cambridge. Of course, best of all was my acceptance into Oregon: there's just nothing quite as wonderful as knowing that I'll get to spend the foreseeable future "at home" in the Northwest. For those of you who I've known for a long time, and for those that I've just gotten to know since last January, Happy New Year!

Lovely Weather for a Fish Hunt Together with You

Of course, one of the things we all love about Christmas is that it's the time of year when people are more likely to work together for the greater good. Once again, though, mankind has been one-upped by nature: fish work together throughout year. A recent study of groupers and moray eels in the Red Sea has shown that these two totally unrelated fish regularly hunt together, to the benefit of each. Truly cooperative hunting requires two species with complex brains, as both must be able to communicate with the other, and the behavior has previously been observed only in birds and mammals. For more on the fairly major implications of this study, see the well-written (if somewhat overstated) response by Frans de Waal. Also be sure to check out the original article, particularly the videos of hunting groupers and eels. So, there you go, the spirit of the season embodied by fish. Merry Christmas!

Call to Arms

Don't get me wrong: I really enjoyed my time in Britain, and I firmly believe they do many, if not most, things better than we do. That said, they have to be the only developed country that can compete with us in being ignorant about the rest of the world. I'm not the only person who thinks this: a group of concerned geographers has recently put together the Geography Cup, an online contest pitting the US versus the UK. Of course, by definition, the readers of this blog are highly educated, geographically literate people, and I strongly recommend that you go to that site right now and give the quiz a shot. It's really very simple: you have to identify 10 randomly selected countries and answer three questions. Sadly, the average score for both Britain and America are just over 50%. So please, rather you're from the US or the UK, do your part to up those scores and show the rest of the world that we're really not complete idiots.

Joy to the World

This, my friends, is a red-letter day (and not just because I'm going increasingly broke). First, I finished grading the enormous pile of exams from "my" Geology of Oregon class (90 copies of a ten page exam - you do the math to get a sense of just how big a job that was). Then, as I was bringing a load of laundry out to my washer this evening, I ran into my duplex-mate. He's moving out and was looking to unload things, including...a microwave! Those of you that have microwaves may think it's a little weird to get excited about them, but imagine how much more convoluted the cooking process would become without one. Reheating things becomes a balancing act in the broiler, to say the least. I'm probably overreacting to this, but I just can't say how great it is to have a microwave again. I celebrated by having my first hot chocolate in a very long while. Mmmm, warm milk...

One Down...

...and who knows how many more to go? Part of the fun of being a PhD student is that I really have no idea how much longer I'll be here. However long it's to be, you can subtract one quarter from it. This morning, I finished my first and last final of the term. I have to admit that this has been about the least stressful Finals Week I have ever endured. I had a short presentation on my research to give on Tuesday (which, at the risk of tooting my own horn, has gotten rave reviews from the other students in the class), a research proposal on the same topic, and today's ecology exam. It's certainly a far cry from the frantic, no-sleep-for-days Finals Week that I had the displeasure of going through every quarter at Chicago (not, of course, that I would ever complain). After I finish up grading exams for the class I'm TA-ing, it's clear sailing until next quarter. And what do I have on my plate then, you may ask? For one thing, I go from TA-ing a 90 student, non-major class to a (so far) 3 student upper level geology course, Geobiology. I'm actually looking forward to that quite a bit, and I'll admit I feel a bit smug that I'm the best-qualified grad student in the department to help teach it (what with the biology BA and all). I'm also taking classes, of course: the follow-up to my current ecology class, an introduction to GIS, and (the somewhat intimidating) Sedimentary Petrology. Stay tuned for all my wacky misadventures starting in January...

Deck the Halls

I will never be one of those people that starts celebrating Christmas the minute the Thanksgiving dishes are off the table. That said, a few conversations I've had in the past week have convinced me that the old tradition that I'd slavishly followed my whole life of waiting until the 7th to break out the decorations, string up the lights, and switch my iTunes over to the "Christmas" playlist just didn't make any sense. So, weird as it seems, I'm ringing the season in now, at the beginning of Advent (which, if you follow the actual church calendar does not necessarily begin on the 1st, but I was never one to get hung up on church doctrines, to say the least). I may have changed the date, but I'm observing the event in the same way I do every year: staying up until midnight to listen to Duke Ellington's jazz Nutcracker. Yes, I lead a thrilling life. Make fun of me if you want. It won't bug me. It's Christmas!

Why, America? Why?

In what has to be a first for me, I was part of two completely separate conversations about turduckens today (neither of which was started by me, I might add). If you don't know what a turducken is, where have you been these last few years? Obviously not listening to John Madden broadcasting football games, that's for sure. At any rate, the long and short of it is that it's a chicken inside a duck inside a turkey. I like turkey and chicken, and duck is fine when prepared right, but all three together seems perhaps a bit much. My biggest concern is that it's all meat with no room left over for stuffing, which is really the best part of a Thanksgiving turkey. Could anything be more emblematic of our gluttonous culture? Yes, it turns out. Check out this Wikipedia article to see not only a picture of a truly horrifying bacon-covered turducken (which propriety forbids me from posting here), but to read about variations that involve birds ranging in size from quails to ostriches. You can also learn that like so many unwanted things in American culture, the blame for the turducken can be placed squarely on - you guessed it - the South.

Mighty Oregon

I went to my first Oregon football game today. As a student, I get free tickets, and as this was the last home game of the season, I figured I really ought to head up to Autzen Stadium and experience the cultural phenomenon that is Ducks football. Don't think I'm lapsing into hyperbole when I use the phrase "cultural phenomenon:" the city of Eugene effectively shuts down each Saturday during the season. People who you would never think of as sports fans will move mountains to attend home games and scream at the top of their lungs for three hours. I've never been to a school that took football this seriously before, and I have to say it's pretty fun (I thought I knew what a big deal college football could be from growing up near Husky Stadium, but sorry UW: Oregon fans have you beat hands-down on enthusiasm and sportsmanship, though I do think you have the edge stadium-wise). I'm also glad to say that while football is a big deal here, people don't lose sight of the fact that it really is just a game and means almost nothing in the real world (unlike some of the fans you encounter in the Midwest, who are prone to suicide if their team doesn't perform to expectations). They're also civil - even friendly - to visiting fans, which in my opinion is the way things ought to be. Finally, how can you not love a team that has a duck as a mascot (and once had a player whose last name was Mallard)? Sadly, the game today ended in an embarrassing loss to a mediocre Arizona team, once more proving that it's true what they say about where nice guys finish.

What's in a Name?

My homework load has taken a sudden, and no doubt temporary, downtown these last few days, so I went ahead and did something I've been meaning to do for a while: I made a name plate for my office door, which had formerly only had my officemate's name on it. That's it at left; pretty wicked awesome, eh? Bonus points to anyone who can name all of the animals on it...

'Neath the Mistletoe

Do you think of mistletoe as a nice bit of Christmas greenery and an opportunity to steal a kiss? If so, you really should learn more about it. It's a nasty parasite that leaches water and nutrients from host trees; you might just as well be kissing under a tapeworm. What, you may be wondering, prompted this odd little discourse? I spent all morning with my Population Ecology class clambering around the soggy slopes of Mount Pisgah monitoring the population of Phoradendron mistletoe for our final project. We tramped through both poison oak (which, thankfully, has largely died back by this time of year) and blackberries (which are a pain at any time of year) and wound up collecting far less data than we'd hoped. For all that, it was still a good time. The sun managed to break through once or twice, there was still some Fall color left on the trees, and the knoll on which we stopped for lunch had a pretty stunning view of the south end of the Willamette Valley. There was also a swing hung from an oak branch at the edge of the cliff that made you feel like you were flying - great if you like cheap thrills. How do I follow up such a busy morning? By writing this, eating pickled okra, washing my poison oak-ridden clothes, and watching Oregon play USC. Hey, not every hour of every day can be eventful...

Vote!

George W. Bush has been an unmitigated disaster for our country, and at the risk of sounding self-righteous, I don't know how any rational person could disagree with that. He has consistently spat in the face of the ideals that made this country what it is, and he has made us pariahs throughout the world. That said, we all have a chance tomorrow to go to the polls and do something about it. My old jazz teacher, of all people, once likened every national election to an organized revolution, and that really sums it up marvelously well. The Founding Fathers knew what they were doing when they wrote the Constitution (which, if you haven't read it, you really should). Jingoistic as it may sound, the US system of government is the best out there. All of us have probably been frustrated by its bureaucracy and inefficiency in the past, but efficient governments tend to lie frighteningly far down the road to despotism. I think that the greatest testimonial to the foresight of Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, and the rest of their cohort is that a would-be despot like George Bush has been able to get away with relatively little. It's sometimes hard for those of us of the liberal persuasion to find things about the US to be proud of anymore, but the fact that we have a chance to go to the polls tomorrow and affect the course of world history should be enough to make us all feel optimistic.

Turning Japanese

Konichiwa, and Happy Godzilla Day! Yes, according to my "this day in history" calendar, this is the 52nd birthday of everyone's favorite giant radioactive lizard/dinosaur. I'm particularly grateful to the creators of Godzilla (or Gojira, for those of us in the know) for supplying me with the only Japanese phrase I know ("Godzilla is eating Tokyo"). Japanese things have been on my mind quite a bit lately, and not just because of Engrish.com. After pumping a couple of thousand dollars into repairing my Taurus last month, I've just learned that I need to pay another four-figure bill to repair my radiator system. The upshot is that I'm selling the Ford as soon as the repairs are finished and swearing off American cars. So, if anyone knows anybody who a) wants to buy a recently-repaired Taurus or b) is selling a decently-priced Japanese car, please do let me know. Sayonara!

Happy Halloween?

Remember when we were kids and the streets were alive with trick-or-treating children on Halloween evening? At the risk of sounding like a cranky old man, what happened to those times? Not only did I not see any trick-or-treaters on my way back from the university today, I didn't get any coming to my door either. What gives? It's not as though I live in a particularly crime-ridden neighborhood; in fact, it's really pretty nice. Have we really become such a bitter and distrustful country? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for misanthropy, but to ruin every kid's favorite night of the year? That just seems wrong. On the plus side, I have a large bowl full of Three Musketeers and Milky Way bars now, as well as a carved pumpkin and a spare candle. Those will all come in handy, I'm sure...