hey joel - you wrote this at 6:47 am?

Reposted from Previous Boodle:

Excepting myself, you'll find out that most of the folks on this here Boodle are quite intelligent, Nubee.

Don't let it intimidate you; for all of our discussions of cosmology and spirituality and the problems of the world, we all still snicker when one of us comes back from the bathroom with a big piece of tp stuck to my, er, *our* shoes, flying the banner of the human condition for the universe to see.

bc

I've never been one to set goals, except for somehow getting by. So I'm content (most of the time) with my very small house in a not fashionable neighborhood, where I'd just as soon spend my time off puttering around the yard. As George Harrison would say, if you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there:

Oh I've been traveling on a boat and a plane
In a car on a bike with a bus and a train
Traveling there and traveling here
Everywhere in every gear

But oh Lord we pay the price with a
Spin of a wheel - with a roll of a dice
Ah yeah you pay your fare
And if you don't know where you're going
Any road will take you there

(from Any Road)

Except me. I'm not very intelligent, I have no sense of humour, and I'm old, and quite fat. And yet the Boodle made me welcome. Welcome in turn, newcomers.

Oh, Yoki, that's not true! And you're Canadian!

I forgot! Accordingly to Weingarten all Canadians are unintentionally hilarious.

...and evidently not poutine-challenged.

reposted with an scc:

nubee - not all of us have advanced degrees - i don't have my masters yet... YET - i will soon tho...

no worries about your intellectual level (all the science stuff joel writes goes RIGHT over my head - i usually stick with posting fluff)

btw - who does the song "thunder road"? sorry, i don't know it so i didn't get a tune cootie... how bout "wreck of the edmund fitzgerald" for a tune cootie? (sorry, i know i did it before but it just came up on my media player so i had to share *grin*)

I've been reflecting on this question since I read over last evening's boodle. I wonder if I really know how much is enough, for me. I hate the consumer in me, but it is definitely there. I don't *need* as much stuff as I've got but my, I do love pretty, quality items over good-enough things.

I struggle with it. A certain amount of stuff is necessary to run the house and job and give #1 and #2 the opportunities I'd like them to have. But I know I have too much. How to simplify? I try to do the right thing. I take transit most of the time for work, have a fuel efficient car for when I need the flexibility. I keep the house cold (well, to be honest, the dogs and I prefer it that way) and turn off the lights. We converted to high-efficiency water heater, furnace and windows. But it is kind of a big house filled with stuff (albeit pretty, quality stuff :).

I've given myself a moralgia thinking about it.

mo, that would be Bruce Springsteen. You're showing your age again, young 'un!

I love the Wreck of the Edmund Fizgerald - saw Gordon Lightfoot perform it this summer without muffing a word. "When the gales of November come early" - very poignant song.

If you want the full lyrics of The Wreck of the Edmund Fizgerald:
http://www.lightfoot.ca/wreckof.htm

This is the part that sends chills down my spine:
Does any one know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd put fifteen more miles behind her
They might have split up or they might have capsized
They may have broke deep and took water
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters

And it just goes to show that what's important are not the material things - but Yoki, there are lots of things worth having, that make life better, for sure.

bleh! i don't like bruce - sorry, sorry - i know that's sacreligous! (but i DO like gordon! does that make up for it? my mum used to play his stuff when i was a wee one so it reminds me of my childhood - i'd LOVE to see him perform!)

I'm not a big Bruce fan myself, mo, but I like lots of his songs. Gordon Lightfoot doesn't have the voice he used to (he was quite ill a few years ago), but he is still very good and his band is excellent. If you get the chance, see him.

and i have to admit i'm a true consumer - cassandra, i was born and raised in a city so i've had indoor plumbing, washing machines and central air my whole life... i like to camp but i'm always appreciative to come back to "civilization" and indoor facilities... i couldn't do the "country" living... there, i admitted it...

Nubee- Not everyone here has a degree. My post-secondary education consisted of learning to rumba at the Arthur Murray School of Dance.

Boko I think degrees from the school of life are just as worthy!

I've wondered a bit about multiple origins for various Earth organisms. It's only worth considering for a small number of groups--for example, everything with eukaryotic cells (cells with a nucleus) are clearly descended for a common ancestor, as eukaryotic cells are highly specialized, and share very unique features (such as mitochondria). This includes all the multicellular organisms.

However, when you get down to bacteria (Monera, in the Five Kingdom system), things get a little tougher. Monerans are mostly linked to each other based on the things they DON'T have, rather than the things they do have.

This is a dicey way to classify organisms--in clasdistic terms, it's described as using shared, primitive characters (sympleisiomorphies, in the lingo), and is generally considered a no-no. It would be like grouping humans and mice together as mammals because we both have backbones. Well, yea, but so do all the other vertebrates.

Once you rule out shared primitive characters, there isn't a whole lot to group the various bacteria together. For example, the cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) don't seem to have a lot in common with other bacteria except the basics, like, "they all have DNA".

There certainly isn't a lot of evidence to refute the claim that the monerans have multiple origins.

Going to try to get Mrs. D. to make some poutine for me this Thanksgiving.

Um, I would like to add that I am not one of the true egg-heads on this blog either...but at least tolerated. I'm mostly egg-white. Although every once in a while I do break into the yellow. :-)

spongiform
spongiform
spongiform *hehehe*

Dooley- Make sure you use tinned chicken gravy on that poutine for the authentic Francophone flavour.

And stop talking to yourself.

Dooley, I never heard that before, about the monerans having multiple origins. Is this a heretical view or something that can be discussed in polite company among paleobiologists?

Mo, I started the kit at 6:47 a.m....Yes indeedy...And that's the time stamp that sticks with it, for some reason. I usually try to get some stuff in the hopper on the boodle (note: these are not technical terms) before 7 a.m., when things begin to get hectic around the house. But I often don't finish a kit until midday or, who knows, end of business. This is because blogging isn't my job, but, as I've noted many times, merely something management considers a bad habit.

I have merely a B.A., incidentally.

posting things like sympleisiomorphies makes me all tingly. Dooley do you ever have occasion to investigate or play around with newly discovered life in our oceans to figure out ancient life?

Yoki, I'm trying to keep the stuff to a minimum also. My mother had a thousand square foot condo, and the stuff (garbage!) we carted out of it was amazing. And this was after she had cleaned out a 1800 square foot house! My mother in law, God rest her soul, had a 3900 square foot house with a full basement. Every cabinet, every closet, every drawer were full. It took my husband and his brother three and a half years to clean it all out. I promised my kids I wouldn't do that to them. One of my first projects in retirement will be to go through the closets and get rid of stuff. Except for the books. The books will stay, I'm afraid, and continue to multiply.

Welcome, newcomers. Stick around, I think you will enjoy the company.

Mo, that's fine, not everyone is from the country or even likes the country. I bring these things up because sometimes it just feels like we get so detached from stuff if it isn't the stuff we're doing or living.

It's such a big world, and we have so many differences and lives, but we're all human, and we certainly have more characteristics in common than otherwise.

I feel very much alone sometimes when talking here because I realize that my whole existence is so different from many of you, yet I am not ashamed of that fact, I embrace it wholeheartedly, and want to share that with you because it is me. I am sure sometimes it seems that I go on, and on, and on, about it, but it needs to be talked about and said, so I am that voice. Peace.

What I find weird is that Joel's B.A. is in political science, which just... isn't one. A science, that is. It's more of a Humanity. That squishy stuff. Yet, he's an entirely tolerable science writer. I can't understand how he went so far wrong, but the prodigal returned, so it's alright, now.

Yeah, yeah, Joel, just a BA. From Princeton! As if that didn't count.

A bad habit, you say? I'd say it's a very successful bad habit that management should look very positively upon.

mostlylurking, if you like the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, one contribution to the boodle that I take pride in (in my warped way) is my song to that tune, inspired by Curmudgeon's guest kit on the history of signal flags. I'm sorry I can't easily find that date for you - May, June? If you look for it in the archives look for Curmudgeon on Signal Flags.

Here's a paper from last year on the subject of whether a second genesis on Earth would be discernible: http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1089/ast.2005.5.154?cookieSet=1

I head up to Pennsylvania Dutch Country tomorrow for Thanksgiving. I like the place so much that I will be bringing some of it back home with me in the form of body fat.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving.

(And you Canadian-type people. Now is your chance to take over. We Americans will soon be in a tryptophan-induced stupor and even more sluggish than normal.)

SciTim, you'll notice that I've adopted your suggested nomenclature and call the problem formerly known as "global warming" as "climate change". I'm also sick of the dumb jokes everytime somebody has to put on a sweater.

I went to wikipedia to find out what monera were and discovered a photo that explains why some scientists at NASA got so excited about that Martian meteorite found in Antactica. The objects in the bottom photo look exactly like the putative critters they found on the exo-rock.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:5kingdoms.png
One of my cousins has an MA in polysci, now he's a lobbyist in Ottawa.

I haven't seen multiple origins of monerans in print, but it's the sort of thing that gets tossed around over beers at 1 am (when all the real science gets done). There's no strong evidence to support it, just no strong evidence to refute it either. If someone came along tomorrow and said "I've got new, strong evidence for multiple origins" I don't think there would be any big reason to doubt them.

If you have multiple origins on Earth, there are only a few candidate groups--essentially, Monera and Archaeobacteria (which I think is the group the extremeophiles are placed in); the other groups are too closely linked. In the 5K system, animals, plants, fungi, and protists are all eukaryotes and so have a common ancestor.

dr, I work on whales, so I don't play with microscopes very often--even as clueless as I am, I can usually find a whale even without putting my glasses on. Mrs. D. studied samples collected by the Alvin, and we had a friend who went down in the Alvin for samples, but those were geologic samples.

The only people who try to bash you over the head with their credentials went to Bob Jones or wherever Kent Hovid went.

RD, very craftily, your leaders have annually distracted our people with the shopping extravaganza known as "Black Friday". So nobody's watching the shop up here either.

RD, and what makes you think it won't happen. We have previously (just last week) lulled you into a stupor over our invasion in North Carolina. Didn't hear about that on the evening news now did we? Enjoy your weekend.

Actually, there was some stuff from the Arctic this morning, the mapping of the Arctic shelf. Its a race, there are only 7 years left and we must map our territory or lose it. Its so obviously our territory, but Maritime law says use it or lose it. The neigbours, including Denmark, the US, Russia and maybe even Finland are standing at the fence and they want the back forty. If we are all lucky and Canada gets starts playing harball, we will all remain good neighbours.

It took me a long time, but I finally got a B.A. in economics. Semi-squishy, except for the econometrics folks, but that was too hard for me. Then I ended up doing photography for a living, so go figure.

I do enjoy all the science in the Kit and the Boodle, and I even put some effort into understanding it. Mrs C is the science person in the house, and can generally help me when I require it.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. We're staying home, cooking the traditional meal, planning to eat a lot of leftovers. Somehow I still cook for a crowd, even with only three of us. Hope you all have a good holiday.

Tim- I'm having trouble with that link.

Richard Dawkins has written several times that virtually all life could be traced back to a single ancestor (or concestor, he likes to make up words), but I've never read which lifeforms aren't related.
Perhaps he's using virtually in the sense that "There is virtually no cannablism in the Royal Navy" (M.Python)

Gotta love Paul Davies. Why, just a few days ago I was reading a review of his new book, "The Goldilocks Enigma: Why is the Universe Just Right for Life?"

An excerpt from the review [in the South China Morning Post]:

"The prevailing view among scientists, says Paul Davies, is that life and consciousness are interesting bonus features of our universe, not essential components. Davies, however, thinks otherwise. His book argues that intellgent life is the reason the universe exists.

"In 'The Goldilocks Enigma,' the theoretical physicist and populariser of the subject poses a mystery -- the fact that our universe appears tailor-made for life -- and offers a number of possible solutions, including God, only to knock them down one by one.

". . . Davies is faced with a dilemma. He can't believe in an intelligent designer, because of the classic 'Who made God?' argument. Equally, he can't accept that the cosmos just happened to turn out right, nor that it's a dot in a multiverse of possible phonies. His solution is a somewhat dramatic appeal to the more speculative corners of quantum field theory, general relativity and information theory.

"Causality, he argues in this hugely enjoyable book, could work backwards, so that the real cause of our universe is its endpoint. The point our cosmos is evolving towards could be one in which the whole of it becomes conscious."

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Goldilocks-Enigma-Universe-Just-Right/dp/0713998830

//". . . Davies is faced with a dilemma. He can't believe ...... he can't accept.... His solution is a somewhat *dramatic* appeal to the more speculative corners of quantum field theory, general relativity and information theory.\\

For dramatic read desperate.

mo, many thanks for my tied-with-about-a-dozen-others-but-still-in-front-by-a-nose favorite tune cootie.

'Mudge, I'm terribly hurt you didn't see fit in your Boodle intro to mention the hopelessly-over-his-head-but-still-somehow-lovable-and-always-besieged-on-all-sides-by-the-chattering-classes deputy shop steward.

I shall drown my sorrows in gravy and whipped cream...

Speaking of which, I'll be getting up at 2 a.m. (no SCC needed) to do some traveling for the next four days. Hope to give everyone an update come Sunday. I wish you all a marvelous Thanksgiving with lots of hearth and home (or a reasonable facsimile).

:-)

Dooley, the dust is showing on your Ph.D. Monera was split into Bacteria and Archeobacteria way back in 1977.

The grand three-kingdom scheme proposed in 1990 is Bacteria (or Eubacteria), Archea, Eukarya.

Eukarya includes plants, algae, fungi, and animals, so it's pretty broad.

I spent the last 6 years with taxonomic terms, so I'm relatively fresh. You're correct about cyanobacteria being rather distinct, but cyanobacteria likely is simply an more evolved form of photosynthesis from other photosynthetic bacteria, and an ancient cyanobacterium became the chloroplast in modern-day algae and plants.

As for the "DNA" argument, I think pretty much there are only 27 genes of various forms that have been found, so far, to be key to life functions in all types of cells, including bacteria.

I think the picture of bacteria is confounded by viral insertion, gene trading ("sex") in bacteria, as well as certain lineages becoming endobacteria or full organelles of eukaryotic cells.

By defintion, sexual reproduction acts as much of a brake against mutation as it can help sort genes and purify them, and bacteria can multiply into the thousands within 24 hours, so I'm not sure that "Bacteria are so different they can't have an common ancestor" argument is exactly right.

It's possible that they had multiple origins-- many times in the sense that highly divergent lines combined to form new lines with a recklessness impossible in multicellular organisms. Plastids transfer from various lines very easily.

Like Ticklishturtletoe would see it, bacteria are all hackers that rip off code from each other and see if it works or not.

I even remember reading a paper showing that lightning could polarize the membranes of soil bacteria enough for foreign DNA in the soil (from dead organisms) to be taken up whole, for instance. It sounded like a Frankenstein experiment. Wild paper, I gotta find it again somehow.

Bon voyage, S'nuke.

I hope you won't run into any Goldilocks on the run and looking for a car just the right size for her. If you do, call the cops on her.

Safe travels to everyone going off for the Thanksgiving extravaganza. We really need to pump up the hype on ours in Haute Maine.

2 am - Yikes Scotty.

I'm watching Darrin get arrested for teaching evolution. I hope Samantha wiggles her nose and gets him off. Oh! Oh!

What I thought is a old rerun of "Bewitched" is actually an old movie called "Inherit the Wind." I remember I don't like this movie because it portrays H.L. Mencken as a carney type conman.

ScienceTim said, "What I find weird is that Joel's B.A. is in political science, which just... isn't one. A science, that is. It's more of a Humanity."

One of the three reasons I was glad to go to Queen's University in Kingston Ontario Canada in the mid-seventies was, it did not (and does not now) have a Political Science degree on offer. It was called Political Studies which, I still think, better captures it as a humanity or liberal art rather than a science.

The other two? No fraternities/sororities and professors weren't called professors, but rather Dr. or Ms. or Mr. X. The teachers did indeed profess various disciplines, but the administration was careful not to make a distinction between tenured Profs and junior faculty. This was intentionally done so that we as students did not feel our learning constrained by the elevation of our pedagogues.

Oh, there is fourth reason. Head of School was not President, but Principal. First among equals, as it were.

The reasons I did not enjoy my undergrad years are too numerous to bore you all with, but can be summed up by a part-conversation I heard, during first year, from one of my dorm mates.

"I am just so cross that Daddy wouldn't let me bring my horse with me. Mummy said one of the grooms could bring her down, but..."

Have a safe trip, S'nuke!

Well, my boss hired my replacement today. She comes on Monday and I'll have four weeks to distill 27 and a half years of experience for her. He lucked out, I think. She's got an outstanding resume. She was also born about the time I went to work for the Fire Department. Yep, definitely time to retire.

*Cough, cough* *waving away clouds of dust*

Instead of "Bacteria are so different they can't have an common ancestor" I'd say "Bacteria are so different they MIGHT not have an common ancestor". As you point out, bacteria are such free-wheeling, hedonistic swingers when it comes to trading genetic material, they screw up all our usual means of determining relationships.

It remains that there are very few synapomorphies that actually link all the various bacterial groups--in fact, so few that it's plausible that the characters arose independently in different groups. I think the ease with which bacteria trade genetic material actually strengthens the case for multiple origins--gene trading will tend to make organisms appear more closely related than they actually are.

Of course, I'm completely ignoring that nasty question of what exactly life is, or what constitutes an ancestor-descendent relationship in asexual organisms that will trade genes with anyone that happens by.

"No fraternities/sororities"

One of the reasons I chose my school, too.

Oh, slyness, whatever will they do without you? I so understand!

When I left the original law firm for which I managed the international practice, all of a sudden the partners got really nervous. I heard many "jokes" about how they should have made me sign a confidentiality agreement and would have to escort me off the premises because I knew *way* too much about the financial statements and contacts and peripheral stuff about the partnership. Of course, if they hadn't insisted on such an agreement at the beginning of my employment, they hadn't a leg to stand on, and it was unnecessary in any case.

I am highly ethical (which they knew, and that's why the comments were 'jokes') but more than that, the really valuable stuff (creativity, interest, approaches, methods, processes, long-term relationships) was all 'up here' and could never be taken away from me (or them). My value is not in my contacts list or precedents bank, but in what I know and do and how I do it.

I feel kinda sorry for your successor, no matter how wonderful she is (and she is!). Of course, in 27.5 years, she'll feel the same way.

In my mind this is proof enough of alien life forms on the planet:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/11/21/polygamist.leader.ap/index.html

I am verklempt! I could not foresee this thing happening to me.

Thank you . . . when I defended my master's thesis, two friends attended. At the conclusion, they stood and did the wave. That's what this feels like.

Before I forget, *the smartest, best organized or most technical*. I am none of those things in my group, but there is comfort in being surpassed by the best.

dmd, discuss away.
jack, I hear you.
TBG, thank you. I was idly wondering just the other day if anyone remembered the etymology of dbG, so thank you for that also.
Yoki, I always feel you know what's important and what's trivial.

Given my second sentence here, I looked up the lyrics. I knew what I'd always heard as *No more will my green seagull turn a deeper blue* was wrong. Close. *my green sea go turn a deeper blue.*

Happy Thanksgiving, all!

Yes, Yoki, my value to the organization is not that I know everything, it's that I know where to look...I warned her about how insidious the fire service is. It gets in your blood and you're hooked for life. As long as she can stand on her own feet and get along with everyone, she will do very well.

Yoki, you had me smiling at your description of Queen's as it did not fit with the image I had of it, and then you quoted one of the students and I went yes that sounds more like it.

Carleton had no frats/sororities either, there was talk when we were there that the handicapped students where considering forming one though, since the school was tunneled underground it was quite convienent for students with handicaps and there were a fair number that attended.

Just noticed today that the newly installed President quit (very hush hush) about the reasons.

One more thing, Tim humanities have value too, although I never understood the how Politics was science (alchemy might be as close as it gets).

Dooley, of course, there's the nasty little fact that for most of the history of life, most of life was unicellular anyway.
Maybe WE are the alien transplants who quickly exploited the "native talent" as it were ;).

I finished captioning the photos for Wilbrodog. I wonder if the "rude otter" comment will now make abundant sense to Pat with my current description of the otter picture.

http://wilbrodog.blogspot.com/2006/10/zoo-changed-on-me.html

(To read the caption, rest mouse on picture or just install JAWS or whatever Pat does).

dbG Hendrix?

They changed the name to Political Science from Political Economy because they didn't get no respect.

Regarding the humanities. Before I became a Civil Servant, I was what is known as a SETA contractor. This means I provided technical and scientific support to a government program manager. The PM in question was brilliant. He managed a multi-million dollar program populated by a frightening number of technical PHDs. I would watch in awe as this guy would masterfully identify and challenge the key technical weaknesses in jargon-soaked presentations. He amazed me with his ability to separate what was important in the program from what was superficial.

It is my hope that one day I can begin to touch this individual's broad knowledge and practical insights.

He majored in history.

Don't think the change worked :-), I did briefly consider Economics as a study, figured it was perfect for me as they were like weather people, getting the forcast wrong or altering it on the fly. An occupation where being correct is not necessary - that's me!

Ah yes, RD - the ability to think! That's what the humanities do, they teach you how to think. Amazing skill, that.

dmd, seeing as I resemble that remark:

http://classweb.gmu.edu/sgillesp/Fun/Lightbulb.htm

dmd You shouldn't slander meterologists like that.
One of the first things out of the mouth of my economics teacher was, "we'll assume everyone acts in their best economic interest." I half seriously asked "What if they haven't taken the course?". And so a very rocky relationship began. Things got better when we got to land resource economics. We could match theory and predictions of value to actual sale prices.
The most impressive thing I learned was the use of Multiple Regression Analysis to build valuation models. Playing with the coorelation matrix is a lot of fun.
I confess I don't know how to rumba and attended Community College in Cornwall On.

I guess that teacher should have said, Everyone acts in *what they perceive to be* their best economic interest *in the absence of perfect information*.

[Actually, I might have said "what *he or she* perceives to be in *his or her* best economic interest" . . . but that's a whole 'nother career . . .]

bigcranky those were very funny.

Boko, that was a pretty big assumption by your teacher. I chose a course in economic history from the 1600's onward and loved it - since everything was in the past right and wrong were less relevant, you could see what went wrong.

By the way, Nubee, have you met my hopelessly-over-his-head-but-still-somehow-lovable-and-always-besieged-on-all-sides-by-the-chattering-classes deputy shop steward, scottynuke? (Also known as scotty.) He's about to leave town for the holid --- well, he'll be back Monday, I guess. I'll re-introduce you to him then.

Have a good holiday, scotty.

Padouk, do they have, ya know, like, take-home doggie bags or boxes up there in Penna Dutch divine food country? Just mildly curious. No big deal if they don't, and you don't bring back, oh, any potato salad. Or cole slaw. Or dumplings. Or ham, or turkey. Or pumpkin pie.

*sobs quietly*

I worked on Space Shuttle software for nearly two decades in one capacity or another. The people in my consulting firm had a variety of backgrounds -- majors in English, history, geography (that's me), economics, and of course some from math and EE. We gradually acquired Computer or Software Engineering grads, but when most of us were in university, there were only a couple of schools that offered that degree -- Purdue, maybe Yale and Stanford, and perhaps a few others. Another interesting characteristic is that about half of us were left handed.

My ex's motto was, "he who dies with the most toys wins." Cars, boats, gadgets, home theater systems, oriental carpets, expensive furniture, etc., etc. For a while I was caught up in it, getting a sort of high from the purchases. I realized eventually that no matter what new possession we acquired, it didn't fill the void in my soul. I don't think my ex has ever had this awakening.

For a long time after the divorce, I lived in a house that was too big. I had two rooms I only entered when the plants needed watering. When I decided to downsize and "S" decided to do the same, we sold our houses and bought this much smaller one. We got rid of loads of stuff by either selling, donating, giving to relatives or just plain throwing stuff away. We still have too much stuff, but at least it's stacked neatly in the cellar. (And I still have way too many clothes, it's my only vice.) We will spend some time over the winter weeding through it all. Like Slyness, I have cleaned out homes after the death of a relative, it is he11.

The idea behind the downsizing was to spend less on housing, save for retirement and have a lower cost of living. Also having a smaller house and yard leaves us more free time to take day trips to interesting places (we've never been to Plimoth -that's how they spell it and no I don't know why - Plantation, speaking of Thanksgiving), visit children and get back to hiking and biking.

How much is enough? I don't feel the need to impress anyone with the size of my house or the cost of my furnishings. True friends don't care about that stuff, no one else's opinion matters to me anymore. I have the things I need for daily living (dishes, linens, appliances and a car) some nice things for special occasions (silver, china, a pan big enough for a turkey). I still have all the possessions that mean something to me, my mom's china teacups and my grandmother's bookcase, for example; these have meaning not because they are valuable monetarily, but because they have "history." And I have things that don't really mean much but I hate to part with and can't get my daughters to take off my hands. So, do I miss my big house? No, but I do miss my walk-in closet. A lot.

dmd- It's not half the assumption made by theologians. History is a respectable scholarly pursuit, as in the history of science. It's when I run into things like the philosophy of science that my BS antennae start twitching.

We moved out of a 3-bedroom house into a very small apartment when I took a new job in a different state. I was *amazed* at all the junk we had collected over the years. We actually had boxes that we had never opened from the previous move! (One of them was full of broken kitchen stuff. Seriously.) We never had any money, so I don't know where all the junk came from. Many truckloads went to Goodwill, many others to the city dump.

That was ten years ago, and now we're in a 3-br house again. I'd like to think that we have a lower tolerance for junk, and for buying stuff just to buy it. We're trying, anyway.

LTL-CA, very interesting about all the lefties, I remember when I was pregnant with one of my children and undergoing quite a few ultrasounds I read up on it to see if there were any possible complications that could arise. To my surprise one of the few negatives, and they used that term, was a higher incidence of left-handedness. As a lefty I was very offended.

Bad sneakers love your attitude, I am very lucky and have much more than many and pretty much always have but I do not try to impress, and take more pride in getting a good bargain than worrying that it is the "right brand". My weakness is christmas stuff, I have a pretty good collection, every year my girls get a special ornament, the whole gammit of price ranges - it was a tradition started by my mother in law, when the kids leave home they take their ornaments to have a start on their new life, we still have almost all of my husbands and eclectic assortment of homemade ornaments, special ornaments and ordinary, and all so very special.

>How much is enough?

I don't know, but I have a real jones for a new MiniMoog.

There, there Mudge. ther'll be something special on the Curmudgeon household table too. It's just that you'll have to cook it first.

I have a huge question to ask. I know sweet potatoes is a commonly served thanksgiving dish, but what about turnips? Does anyone serve turnips with their Thanksgiving dinner turkey?

Scotty, bon voyage, have a good trip, drive safe and all. Or fly. Oh heck you know what I mean.

Error- Thanks for restating the question.
My Dad beleived that enough is enough. I recall him being pretty emphatic about it on numerous occasions.

I thought eight was enough?

Anyway, I was persuaded to report from the frontlines as a service dog today, like a hard-bitten newshound. I'd rather nap.

http://wilbrodog.blogspot.com/

Y' know, to follow up on Davies a bit, supposing that all life that we can find (in places where it *can* survive) is similar in nature (homochiralic, Left-handed amino acids, DNA, etc.), it seems to me that it'd be very difficult to determine *what* the origin of said lifeform/material was; be it homegrown or some sort of panspermia. I'm no biology expert, I could be wrong here.

Having said that, with life being as messy as it is, I'd be surprised if we found any life in the Solar System that *wasn't* related to life on Earth. Plenty of material is transferred to Earth from outer space all the time; why wouldn't material from Earth be splashed all over the solar system in some sort of Earthospermia?

I 'spect that there have been enough big meteor hits over the past 3+ Billion years since the beginning of life on Earth for a goodly anount of material - genetic and other wise - to have been splattered over a fair amount of the Solar System's real estate. Too bad we can't block all of the sun's light for a minute except for the soft UV, to make it a big CSI forensics light.

I bet we'd see a pretty big hair-raising mess of our *own* genetic material out there if we did.

And that's another fine mess I doubt we're going to clean up.

bc

Boko999,
I've avoided philosophy of science, since science generally seems to escape the philosophers and there's a lot of interesting science out there. An exception was "Tower of Babel: the evidence against the new Creationism" by Robert T. Pennock, then (1999) an assistant professor at the University of Texas, Austin, and now an evidently very busy professor at Michigan State
http://www.msu.edu/~pennock5/
His demolition of creationism was effective but sort of disappointing--I'd expect that some of the stuff Pennock refuted might actually have been a bit interesting or creative. No such luck. I was left wondering why anyone would waste time bashing such silly stuff--least of all an assistant professor who needs tenure. Well, looks like he got tenured. Good for him.

Meanwhile, the New Yorker startled me--a story on turkeys (the magnificent wild bird, not the cultivated version) mentioned wildlife biologist Lovett Williams right off. I spent my first three years after college working at his wildlife lab in Gainesville. He was of course obsessed by turkeys, and also had the remarkable good taste to have a local architect design him a splendid cracker house, complete with kitchen separated from the living area and a gigantic cypress beam to hold up the roof. He also and somehow persuaded his employer, the Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission, to building an architecturally interesting permanent home for the lab. The only disappointment was that the old cattle trough was far too contaminated to be recycled as a water lily pond. Not bad for someone from somewhere near Chattahoochee and Attapulgus.

Meanwhile, a sale catalog from a university press says they're publishing "Bobcat: master of survival" by Kevin Hansen. These little predators are flourishing, even as bigger cats disappear. Could it be for the same reason that we have lots of coyotes, few wolves? I think instead I might try Nicholas Mooney's "The triumph of the fungi: a rotten history." My father, a medic in the south Pacific during the war, suggested that fungus infections might have been as big a problem as the Japanese. That's about all he ever said about the war.

Hmm, hard cosmic radiation isn't likely to leave DNA intact for millions of years, bc. Not that I've exactly studied the subject, but call it an educated guess.

Boko, jones for the Stones, *Paint it Black*
http://www.last.fm/music/The+Rolling+Stones/Hot+Rocks+1964+-+1971+%28Disc+1%29?autostart

Cassandra, I'm glad that you're that voice. Keep talking.

How much is enough? Like others, I cleaned out the houses of my mother and aunts; the year I got divorced I moved 6 times. All I ask now is that walking into my house feels like a vacation.

My first apartment was a run-up in Beacon Hill. The stairs were so steep that if you just walked you'd fall over backward. The building burnt down one night in early January, after a snow so deep the firetrucks couldn't make it through. At 4 a.m. I crawled over a fire escape to the building next door, with the clothes on my back, some jewelry (what did you expect? It's me!) and my applications to graduate and law school. Lost everything else, but nobody got hurt and I learned I was fine with not-very-much. I felt free.

Dave, I'm not surprised by Lovett Williams. Biology is considered an "IAR" type profession meaning it's investigative, artistic, and realistic (hands-on).

It attracts artistic types with hard-core thinking skills and a taste for hands-on stuff, as well as other types with those strengths in varying levels.

I had a teacher who was an environmental engineer and he spent one whole class discussing how he had designed his house to be energy efficient, with a high, slanted ceiling to help channel down rising hot air from the north exposure and other features.

After all, Gary Larson was a zoology major before he drew "the far side".

Alas, being artistic doesn't mean you always have the talent attached, but he was certainly funny and became an instant favorite of scientists, especially biologists.

SonofCarl, found it - April 20,2006:
An ode to Mitzi Fleeberhoffen, to the tune of the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald:

The legend lives on from olde Portsmouthe on down
Of the big whale they call Big Olde Hairie
The Channel, it is said, never gives up her dead
And when a whale farts it just plain is scarie.

With whalers galore, too much poundage more
Than the ship the Von Drehle weighed empty
There was grog to go through and some bones to be chewed
And the cholesterol tests come too early

The ship's crew was a divers set of swabbies
They even took a young scribe named Mitzi
"Young" is the wrong word, for Mitzi was born, I have heard
When Big Olde Hairie was just Lil' Itsy-Bitsy

When supper time came the Wong twins came on deck
Saying fellows it's too rough to feed all you lime-ays
Later that day when they abandoned the Mudge
They said fella maybe we'll come visit on Fridays.

Big Olde Hairie's bowels made a tattletale sound
And all hell broke, the ship fro'ing and to'ing
And every man knew, as the Captain did, too,
T'was no ordinary flatulence brewing.

The Captain, the old salt, saw water coming in
Nothing got by that old deck hand you can see
He deduced from that sight that the ship was in peril that night
So he knew he'd be going down with the Von Dreh-lee.

Does anyone know where the cabin boy goes
When the Captain "does charts" and the sails lay flat
The sailors all say there are soundings to be made
Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I'm sorry for that, I couldn't resist
These nautical songs are a set up.
With seamen and poopdecks, my poor inner child
Can just never quite seem to just let up.

Anyhoo, our hero was saved on that bright sunny day
When he hung underwear from the rope thingie
An old salt rowed out and saved our scivvy-less lout
No word on how he covered his dinghy

So that is the tale of how signal flags began
T'was a colourful time in the navy
The only thing more that we just could ask for
Is some damned italics, please, just maybe

The legend lives on from olde Portsmouthe on down
Of the big whale they call Big Olde Hairie
The Channel, it is said, never gives up her dead
And when a whale farts it just plain is scarie.

Yes, I'm comtemplating a move and asking myself if I really want to store this stuff-- it's just one bedroom apartment's worth of stuff, but even so I could tell you right now over half of what I have, I haven't used in the last year.

Some of my unused stuff are portfolio stuff and key papers, but that's a vanishingly small percentage. And the sad thing is that I downsized since I moved as well.

I'm sure a certain % belongs to Wilbrodog, too. Maybe most of it.

Yoki,
that was me, complaining about daddy not bringing my horse - er, no, that might have been me if I'd ever actually *had* a horse, not to mention a groom.

My Dad wound up in a very small house, but he managed to stuff everything he had from the last 60 years in it. He had report cards from his days in grade school, for Pete's sake. Made me vow not to do that, although I have a pretty big collection of yarn from unfinished or never started projects.

Hope everyone has a great holiday. I'm already overeating, and I'm sure I'll be overtired at some point (but maybe not since I'm oversleeping every day).

In spirit, all that Wilbrod owns, I own.

However, I'm not allowed on the furniture, except for my own bed, and I don't wear clothes except for my working vest and the occasional rainy-day outfit, so 3/4 of all that stuff definitely belongs to Wilbrod.

Happy Thanksgiving!
The Stones! Of course!
Good Night!

Oh, and Wilbrod DEFINITELY owns the vacuum. No way I'm owning that thing, even in spirit.

dr, i just had a conversation with a friend who said he wished his sister would cook turnips for thanksgiving. so apparently they can be construed as thanksgiving food...at least if you want them to be.

Turnips might be too strong by themselves, but they can add to a stew, braise or pot of vegetables. Also, swap a parsnip for a couple of carrots, to make it sweeter.

An animal on the furniture can come in handy at times. The dog or one of the cats usually sleeps by my feet, performing the valuable service of pinning down the blankets so they don't fall on the floor, which keeps me warm all night.

I just need to say that SonofCarl did a really magnificent job on that song, An Ode to Mitzi Fleeberhoffen.

Good morning, friends. DbG, thanks for the heads up. According to Eugene Robinson's op-ed piece this morning, we all need to be talking. A great read for anyone interested in race, and its impact on our society.

Boko, I laughed out loud at your 9:52 comment. You sound like a real character.

I don't believe I could ever get too many or too much of books. I love books. And thank you folks, I am still receiving books.

Scotty, have a great time, not a good time, but a great time. And please be careful. I hope everyone's Turkey Day is the best. If traveling, take care, and enjoy your time off.

Slyness, it certainly sounds like retirement is in the picture for you. I hope you enjoy it to the fullest.

Mudge, feeling better? All those foods you sighed over are not good for you, but I can understand the desire. I love the stuff (food) that not good for me too.

The g-girl is still here, and I believe she's catching a cold. We were out yesterday, and here we had ice with the rain. Her mother is due for Thanksgiving. I will be glad to see her, and hopefully my grandsons too.

It's still raining, so no walk. And it is so cold, with a lot of wind. I believe this weather will continue through Thanksgiving.

Got to go. The g-girl is up and of course, moving. I've said my prayers this morning, and as always asked God to supply your needs, no matter what they are. Have a safe and joyful Thanksgiving Day, loving your families, giving God some of your time, and getting some much needed rest. And always remembering that God loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.

Good morning, Error and Nani. Have a great Holiday.

Hubby checked the rain gauge at 6:15 this morning: 3 and a half inches. And it's supposed to rain all day. No drought here! But tomorrow is supposed to be nice, and Friday will be clear and pleasant so we can get our Christmas tree.

Hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

*whispering*
*Whaddayamean not yet? How many days of Thanksgiving anyways? 3, 4, 12?
These Americans are crazy! Why not just sacrifice a virgin and have done with it? Well, they're not looking hard enough. Sshh* Ahem.

Good Morning.
I'm informed that it's not Thursday quite yet. So, Happy Thanksgiving Eve!
What great new lyrics for TWOTEF. Several of the sea shanties I'm familiar with give a prominent position to the cabin boy. You wouldn't think his function was so important. Oh well I'm only a landlubber.
The only ditty I know eschews cabin boys in favour of a fair young maiden.
So, lean back on your wooden legs, light up your hornpipes and I'll give you "Barnacle Bill the Sailor."

*What? Ya think?*
You'll have to get him yourself.

dbG, I feel so silly. My husband is a DBG because those are his initials. I don't remember (or remember even knowing) the etymology of your handle.

TGB- You only went out with DBG's? I read about a young lady in San Deigo who only dated CV's

Did y'all see this about Bush's latest appointment?

On Monday, the federal office that oversees the nation's family-planning program got a new boss who doesn't believe in birth control. Eric Keroack is a Massachusetts obstetrician-gynecologist who argues that abstinence until marriage is the only healthy choice for women. Until recently, he served as medical director of a pregnancy-counseling organization that runs down contraception and gives out scientifically false health information--for instance, that condoms "offer virtually no protection" against herpes or HPV. Keroack also promotes a wacky piece of pseudoscience: the claim that premarital sex disrupts brain chemistry so as to create a physiological barrier to happy marriage.

http://www.slate.com/id/2154249?nav=wp

Slyness, there's so much rain here the courtyard looks like a swimming pool. And I've been out in it. To the laundry room. I don't know how many inches we've gotten, but from the looks of the yards, quite a bit.

This rain is coming from the east, usually we get it from the west. We certainly cannot complain of a lack, that's for sure. And in all this, I have to find entertainment for the little one because we cannot go outside. The dummy tube will have to do. Of course, we love Spongebob.

Ha! I married him because his middle initial is B.

And he's the only guy I ever dated who is taller than I am.

Seems to have worked out, though.

Turnips are absolutely de rigueur with turkey at our house. We use the small tender white and purple ones (not the big yellow-fleshed swedes) and steam them with an equal volume of carrots; put them through the coarse disk of the food mill, stir in a little butter and salt and pepper. Yum. #2 does not like them, but that's OK.

In the classic "I Heard the Owl Call My Name" one of the old native American elders in the West Coast village says that they always prepared turnips when the white priests came to the village. Why? "I never met a white man liked a turnip."

You know what else is splendid with turkey? German-style red cabbage sauteed with some onion and apple and then braised with a touch of apple cider vinegar and some honey or brown sugar and a pinch of salt. Sweet and sour and a beautiful rich royal blue or purple on the plate. Best if made a day ahead and allowed to mellow and blend overnight (just a bonus, with a big dinner to get on the table).

Yoki... can you post the entire recipe for that braised cabbage? It sounds sooooo good. I'd love to make it for tomorrow.

Yoki, I was never a fan of turnip until I had it at a friends house, it was cooked much like you described, with carrots the result was very tasty.

TBG - re Bush's newest appointment, I can only say - Oh my. What exactly is the national family planning program, I do not believe we have anything similar (Canucks am I wrong?).

Morning! *Panting, out of breath from boodle-skimming*

Yoki, the horse comment reminded me of an utterance I overheard in grad school: "I want a degree so that the only time I have to deal with non-professionals is when I need to take a cab." As the first in my family to go to college, it took considerable restraint on my part to control Fist of Death.

Re: stuff. The Spousal Unit is a collecto (motto: "You never know when you might need this.") Any tips on how to control it, other than to order a dumpster when he's out of town?

TBG
That's an excellent in-depth article on that guys nonsense. The peice I read (Salon?) focused on the phoney research organizations and think tanks these liars use to back up their dangerous misinformation. When does the "Bear False Witness" restriction kick in?

I'm sad to read that you discriminate against the vertically challenged.

Thinking in terms of "how much is enough", palm and cycad collections tend to get out of hand. Or the guy with 150 rose bushes in the yard. At least collecting plants is possibly less damaging than collecting stray cats. Last night, I saw a recent Chinese movie in which a music teacher's house has unkempt cats, which his student catches and puts in a cage one day. The teacher explains that they were all strays, rescued from the street. Later, you find that not only the cats are strays. Kaige Chen, "Together"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0332639/

Raysmom, my husband used to be quite the collector, he attached great sentimental value to things, over the years he has improved and gotten rid of many things that "we never know when we might need", we still have a few boxes of "collectibles" and an assortment of old sporting equipment. My favorite is the lacrosse stick last used probably in the 70's, it has been carefully stored in the rafters of every home we have lived in - cause you just never know one of the kids may play one day.

dmd, the National Family Planning Program, also known as Title X, was (is) a program set up by Nixon in 1970 to provide family planning advice, sex education and guidance, etc., to poor people. However, one of its structures was that no Title X funds could be used to pay for abortions.

Found this on the Sierra Club site (why in blazes the Sierra Club had it I have no idea, but they do):

"What is Title X?
Title X, the National Family Planning Program established in 1970, provides high quality reproductive healthcare and contraceptive services to American women. Title X funds are used to enable clinics to provide an assortment of preventative health services, including contraceptive services, gynecological exams, pregnancy testing, STD (Sexually Transmitted Diseases) risk prevention counseling, screening for cervical and breast cancer; screening for high blood pressure, anemia, and diabetes; screening for STDs; including HIV; basic infertility services; health education; and referrals for other health social services."

"Title X funds prohibit the use of program funds to pay for abortions. Women facing an unintended pregnancy receive non-directive counseling only regarding all of their available options, including prenatal care and delivery; infant care, foster care, or adoption; and pregnancy termination."

"Where Do People Receive Title X Services?
4600 clinics nationwide provide Title X services subsidized by Title X monies in every state. State, county and local health departments run the majority (57%) of clinics that receive Title X funds."

That Bush has appointed this maroon to head it comes as no surprise. It's all part of the rightwing attempt to dismantle major parts of the federal government. They've got two more years of this nonsense to go, and then we just rebuild what they've destroyed.

SonofCarl, that was beautiful. Bravo.

I agree that Robinson's Op-Ed this AM is well worth consideration. Cassandra, I'd love to hear a conversation between you and Gene.

Wilbrod, I presume that you don't subscribe to panspermia theories of life on Earth and possibly elsewhere in the universe? DNA could surely not stand millions of years of direct cosmic radiation, it *might* survive in the nooks and crannies of a rock, places that are not exposed directly to light during the traverse. Also, I'm sure that scraps of life or material could hitchhike on/in shielded probes that we humans have sent to other planets. The various space agencies have taken precautions to prevent such things from happening, but there's no telling exactly how effective those precautions have been. As it turns out, life (or building blocks for it) seems to be hardier than we give it credit for; see those extremeophiles in deep sea vents and in glaciers, and the amino acids in meteorites.

There *are* oases in the solar system where life might gain purchase, particularly amongst the gas giants and their moons.

And they've detected amino acids in interstellar clouds, haven't they?

As far as alien life on this planet goes, I think we've *all* grokked that "Stranger in a Strange Land" feeling for ourselves at one time or another.

Based on the evidence I've seen so far, I consider the term "alien life" an oxymoron.

bc

It sounds like a worthy program, I hope they do not destroy it. We do have similar clinics but I think they are run on a local basis.

"Hi, Cousin," I cheerfully chimed as an initial greeting last Wednesday, though I had never met my cousin Doro Bush Koch before.

I was Number 36 in line for her to sign the copy of her $30 book, "My Father, My President: A Personal Account of the Life of George H.W. Bush," that I had just purchased after I crossed the threshold at The Twig on Broadway. I had read the reviews and knew that many considered the text hagiography.

After the first 20 individuals had formed a line to the right of where Doro sat, I was able to grab a chair directly across from the signing table, where I could observe Doro quite closely. She was very gracious with all the people that she was meeting, pausing to talk several minutes with each, and posing for numerous photos.

She was nicely dressed in a black knit decolletage pantsuit, with a multiple strand black-shell necklace. She wore heels, which made her tall, and because she is a mother of four, she is rather stout in the middle. Doro is very pretty in the face. What surprised me the most about Doro, though, was the little-girl timbre of her voice.

I ducked into line when she was signing Number 35's book. After I greeted her, she asked, "We're related?" After signing her own book, I politely asked if she would sign Nathaniel Philbrick's book, "Mayflower," and I explained that this is where our common ancestor, Experience Mitchell, lived--in Plymouth Colony. I told her that I thought that Nate Philbrick wouldn't mind her signature in his book.

The name threw her off, so I explained that Philbrick is the author of the current "Mayflower." While she was penning her name a second time, I then went on to explain that my distant great-grandmother Mary, whose last name is unknown and who was the second wife of Experience Mitchell, was, in all likelihood, the stepmother to her distant great-grandmother, Elizabeth Cooke. Elizabeth was one of the children Jane Cooke had with Experience Mitchell, Jane being Experience's first wife.

Jane Cooke was the daughter of woolcomber Francis Cooke and his Walloon wife. It is Francis Cooke who arrived on the Mayflower, and who originally hailed from Blyth, England, in Nottinghamshire. Jane Cooke and Experience Mitchell arrived on the same ship in 1623 at Plymouth Colony, not yet married to each other.

Doro stammered, "So, you're interested in...? Interested in....?" She seemed to grasp for the word twice, but couldn't manage it. "Yes, genealogy, very much so," I replied. Sadly, author Kitty Kelley paints Barbara Bush as a socialite, and the Bush household as without an enclyclopedia when the kids were small. This was my second surprise in my encounter with Doro, but gave her the benefit of the doubt, as genealogy just simply may not be her interest.

I explained that the Cookes were antecedents on Flora Sheldon Bush's line--Precott's mother, who died so tragically in 1920 at the age of 48 when a car slammed into her.

http://www.mayflowerhistory.com/Genealogy/famousdescendants.php

I didn't have time to explain that I'm descended from Sarah Cooke or to talk about Francis Cooke's grandson, Caleb Cooke, who, along with a native soldier, were the ones to shoot King Phillip, thus ending King Phillip's War. But I did slip in the second bloodline that we share, the Plantagenet line.

I wanted to talk about the current war, if given the opportunity. At that point, her assistant, discerning that we are distantly related, asked if I wanted my picture taken. I stuttered, "But I didn't bring a camera." (as others had). The assistant indicated that I would be having my picture taken with Doro's camera.

Through a frozen facial expression of a smile and clenched teeth, I explained to Doro that I was the one who challenged her father with a question when he was onstage last spring at our local Trinity University.

I tried to explain my lifetime best friend's tragic life, and how her son is now in Iraq on his second tour. I asked Doro to try to bring him home--to save Staff Sgt. Ryan. My time with the author Doro was up. Number 37 was now approaching the table, his book open so that Doro could sign. But I firmly and unflinchingly gave Doro young Ryan's full name, not once, but twice.

"Thanks, Cousin," I chimed cheerfully when leaving.

I paid $30 for access. Having my picture taken was a surprise. Whatever will Doro do with it? I would pay $300 to bring Ryan home, or $3,000 or $30,000 or $300,000 or $3 million, if I had it. Will Doro consider my request as returning an very old historical family favor? I fervently wish it. Will my request and snapshot land anywhere near the President's turkey dinner? I fervently wish it. What will Ryan's Thanksgiving be like in Iraq, he the descendant of William Pynchon, an original patentee of the Massachusetts Bay Colony? At least pleasant, I hope.

For the Boodle, my sincerest wishes for a meaningful, safe, and happy holiday.

Good morning to you too Cassandra! Hope you're feeling well.

>Turnips might be too strong by themselves

Reminds of the The Black Adder. There was this episode where they had a huge turnip that looked just like... oh nevermind.

Boko, as a vertically challenged person myself, I share your umbrage at TBG and her brutal, callous disregard for us stature-deprived personages. Nevertheless, I have met TBG and her husband both, and must report that -- my umbrage notwithstanding -- they are very nice people, even though they are indeed tall, and I have decided not to hold this minor but still egregious character flaw against them. They can't really help how they were born. We have to be big about this. Er, that's of course a metaphor, in my case.

Sky report for Pat: Wish I had better news, Pat. It's gray, and a bit windy (unpleasantly so): a day some people call "raw." The sky is completely dull and cloudy, with some low-flying scud. That big storm system off the Carolina and Virginia coast is moving northwesterly and is about 20 yards SW of us, and will be here soon; it is the rain that is now drenching Cassandra and g-girl. I think I can best sum it up as: cold and yucky. Soon to be wet, cold, and yucky. The typical "dismal November in my soul," to quote Ishmael at the beginning of Moby-Dick (or "Moi Bei Dich," in the Franco-German).

There's a headline up on the WaPo home page right now that just makes me laugh and laugh: ""Homeland Security Lax on Contracting Rules." My oh my, who EVER would have thought the Arbusto administration would be lax on such matters, especially after the very tight ship they ran on Katrina and Iraq. And everyone knows how good Republicans are at handling money and budgets, compared to those profligate ol' Democrats. I'm shocked, shocked I say.

It's been cruel that I have had to work and catch up around the house and fulfil social obligations AND my computer crashed last night so I've been deprived of the Achenblog at a time when the subject is one that is so close to my heart. So I'm glad it's still on-topic to talk about conservation today.

First of all, on the subject of time: Joel, I understand exactly what you mean but I invite you to contemplate that we all have all the time in the world because we have the present moment, eternally. That's only mumbo-jumbo if you don't understand it. When it becomes clear, it's just the plain truth. [Hi, Dreamer!]

Regarding the carbon footprint, I like the analogy several people endorsed of the diet concept. Relative to what you're doing now, if you aren't happy with your condition, you need to make a change. If you're overweight, eat less and exercise more. If your carbon footprint is too big, consume less, increase your efficiency. How much is enough? We don't know, but something is better than nothing.

I think of it as just being open to change, which to many of us is the Big Problem. The first objective has to be to try not to panic at the thought that your life might not always be just the way it is right now.

My two examples, one large and one small:

People who have been reading this blog for less than 15 months didn't hear the story about my car being stolen last summer. It was uninsured so I looked for alternatives, not being willing to buy another one at that time. I took the bus to work a couple of times and then tried riding my bike, and I discovered that I really liked using the bike for transportation. I've been riding it to work ever since, even though my car was recovered a few days after it was stolen. About two months ago I got a new bike, and started keeping track of the mileage. In the month of October I rode my bike 305 miles; during that period I drove my car a total of 165 miles. The most important point I would like to make about this is something I've said before: whatever advantage it is to the environment or the community for me to use my bicycle as transportation, that benefit is VERY SMALL compared to the benefits I am receiving in terms of time management and health improvements and general lifestyle upgrade.

Example two: I used to use two styrofoam cups every day at work. We got a new co-worker who was very ecology-conscious and she did a little campaign to get people to stop using styrofoam. As soon as she mentioned it to me, I realized my behavior was bad; I just hadn't been thinking about it. The next day I brought a mug from home and I haven't used a styrofoam cup since then. Again, the health advantages are probably more than the environmental benefits. You just can't lose with this stuff.

Bottom line: what do you really want, other than happiness? Isn't everything you do just in pursuit of happiness? Using more energy won't make you happier. Simplifying your life will.

====

mostlylurking, thank you for the Arlo link! (I'm so far behind!!!)

Yoki's Red Cabbage

1 head red cabbage (1.5 to 2 lbs)
4 slices bacon (or 2 T. unsalted butter)
2 large onions
2 large tart apples (Granny Smith)
1 t. salt
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
1 T. brown sugar or honey

Peel the outer leaves from the cabbage, quarter and core it. Shred roughly and soak the shredded cabbage briefly in cold water.

In a large heavy saucepan (about 6 quarts - not raw cast iron) saute the bacon until the fat is rendered out and the bacon is crisp (or melt the butter).

Thinly slice the onions and saute them in the butter/bacon fat until pale golden and translucent.

Thinly slice or coarsely chop the apples and saute them briefly with the onions.

Remove the cabbage from the water and shake a few times to remove excess water. Add to the pot.

Stir in the salt, vinegar and sweetener and stir well. Turn down the heat so the cabbage is barely simmering and cover. Braise for up to 1 hour, checking occasionally to stir and check that there is enough moisture to keep the cabbage from burning on the bottom. Add a little water from time to time if necessary. You don't want it wet, but moist.

When the cabbage is very tender and a velvety purple and most of the water is absorbed, remove from heat. Taste for seasoning and adjust.

Allow the cabbage to cool, and then rest overnight in the refrigerator to mellow. Heat before serving. If necessary, just before serving stir in an additional 1 T. vinegar to sharpen the flavours.

>First of all, on the subject of time: Joel

"Time, time, what is time? Swiss manufacture it, French hoard it, Italians squander it, Americans say it is money, Hindus say it does not exist.

I say Time is a crook."

(Peter Lorre in "Beat The Devil")

Error, have you seen Black Adder's first cousin, Mr. Bean? I consider the turkey episode the finest moment in televison history. Mr. Bean cooks like I do.

I never used to like turnips, but my sister in law introduced them. They use the yellow ones, mashed and mixed with a white sauce, topped with bread crumbs and cheddar cheese and baked. Divine. Can one use the word divine in connection to turnips?

Random stuff in between prepping for tomorrow (pies to make, turkey to brine, etc.). When I mentioned Plimoth Plantation last night I said that I didn't know why it was spelled that way. I looked it up and apparently back then they tended to spell it both ways. When the plantation was created here, they opted for the different spelling to differentiate it from all the other attractions in Plymouth, among which the "rock" has got to be the stupidest. I've stood there when tourists come up to it and say, "that's it?" with such disappointment in their voices.

Error, I just ordered Black Adder III. I loved that series and need to show my daughters, who love Hugh Laurie in "House," a younger and sublimely silly Hugh. It always puzzles me how I could love Rowan Atkinson in the BA series and yet find no humor in his Mr. Bean character.

A very boring sky report here. It's overcast and dreary. We'll be getting that Nor'easter tomorrow. Last night as the sun set, the sky was a bright gold which bathed everything in a beautiful warm glow.

I can't get past the odor of turnips. My mom used to cook them sometimes, I have never eaten them and life is too short, and there are too many other foods to enjoy, for me to try them now.

Bad Sneakers, were you close enough to hear the explosion last night?

Mudge - I agree that we must be nice to the overbearing people amongst us. As the ozone layer continues to degrade they will become important sources of shade.

bc- CBC's "Quirks and Quarks" radio program reported the dicovery of silicon dioxide and water molecules on the sun. While the putative beaches may be too hot for sunbathing perhaps midnight skinny-dipping may be possibe.

Off today, although I was beeped last night so am getting a late start. Shortly, I'm off to get everything to serve 11 friends tomorrow.

dr, Mr. Bean and the turkey is the funniest thing I've ever seen. Thanks for the memory.

TBG, no worries. After I posted I remembered those were his initials.

Cassandra, you go!

kb, you're inspirational. You're wearing a helmet, right?

I'm adding a new thing to this Thanksgiving. My mother's cucumbers in sour cream. I thought something chilled, refreshing and pink would be good. My best friend is bringing her mother's mashed turnips, butter & heavy cream, a little nutmeg, heaven.

(Happy T-day)-1!

No, dmd, Danvers is about 20 miles north of Boston, I'm about 30 miles south. It is a terrible thing but thankfully, no one was killed. It will be interesting to see what caused it.

Umbrage! Umbrage!

Didn't you read what I said? DBG was the FIRST person I dated who was taller than I am!

That means that I have had no problem with, er.. vertically challenged men.

I didn't say that was the reason I married him.. I just pointed out a fact.

Whew. Umbrage over.

Watching George Bush extend an executive pardon to a turkey is too sad to be funny.

Yellow turnip mashed with carrots (say 50-50), a generous pat of butter and a bit of salt and parsley is a staple at the denizens' house. Turnip is also great in couscous. Roasted turnip is a flavourful addition to a mish-mash of roasted root vegetables. I'm getting hungry here. Do you know that the Laurentian strain of yellow turnip is pretty much the only one commercially cultivated?
This was brought to you by the Turnip Marketing Board.
"Eat Turnip even before it is the only thing left in the root cellar"

dmd, family planning is mostly a health issue, so it is squarely under provincial jurisdiction. This is one area where the feds haven't ventured (yet) with their "right to spend" and this is a good thing. Most provinces have family planning programs that run in local health venues and it seems to work fine enough.

Turkey notes. As a kid we lived a few years in a region where turkeys were raised. Every early October I saw the trucks loaded with turkeys followed by a storm of white feathers passing by. I marveled back then at the efficiency of a distribution chain that could put a turkey gobbling way on Thursday on the table by the next (Canadian Thanksgiving) Sunday. Ah, the innocence of youth.

Good Thanksgiving to all.

Haven't seen Mr. Bean yet but that character reminds me more of the early Black Adder when Edmund was such a wimp. I prefer the rogue.

SCC gobbling away, shoot.

Hugh Laurie's Bertie Wooster against Stephen Fry's Jeeves was perfect. I'll never be able to read P.G. Wodehouse the same way again. You can't beat English TV comedy.

I heart Hugh Laurie.

Thought boodlers may find this interesting. One of Canada's 3 WW1 vets still living is an American who has declined the state funeral should he be the last. I would have no qualms no matter his citizenship.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061122.wxfuneral22/BNStory/National/home

dbG: yes, of course. Good point, thanks for mentioning it.

dr, I saw something about that yesterday, apparently he moved to the US after the war. The families are able to decline the offer, there was also talk of possible full military funeral for all three if the family wanted but I do not know if that got approval.

Handle: omni
State, province, or country of residence: none: I live and play in DC (I'm taxed but not represented)
Gender: XY
Age: too old to rock and roll, too young to die
Marital status: nope
Number and ages of children: see Marital Status
All degrees and granting institutions: AA from BCCC
Names and types of pets: I wish I had a cat and a dog, damned landlord
Social Security Number: playing it safe with a 401K, a pension, and a Roth IRA
ATM PIN: assigned
Glaucoma Test Pilot License Status: makes me too paranoid to fly

bc you should read 'Hocus Pocus' by Vonnegut if you haven't already.

"The Protocols of the Elders of Tralfamadore"

http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/2006-July/004300.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tralfamadore

Boodler count:103 and still rising.

Mr. Bean has a nasty streak too Error, it just doesn't show up as much. He steals parking spaces (in strange ways), cheats in many ways, cuts up his teddy bear to fit it in his suitcase, etc. The turkey episode is priceless but the set where they shot that must have been a terminal case salmonella contamination. I would have to wash my hair for a week after wearing a turkey hat. The turkey show will be shown again at the house around Christmas, it is a family classic. My personal favourite is the one in which Bean paint his apartment by blowing-up a can of paint with a cherry bomb. Every grape in the grape cluster gets individually wrapped in newspaper; that is silly and anal retentive.

So Borat is your new family planning Czar? (just looking at the photo).

For the Canadians, I thought Belinda Stronach was our national family planner? What? Oh, "planner"; I was thinking of something different.

re: Edmund Fitzgerald lyrics. For those of you that didn't know, Mitzi Fleeberhofen is Curmudgeon's real name. IIRC, Mitzi is a 16 year old resident of Falls Church, VA.

Speaking of WW I - the WW I Black Adder episodes are the best IMHO.

I guess I should note that I'm only adding handles that have posted at least twice. So it's possible that someone who posted today and before a long time ago (which could possibly mean yesterday) might not make it onto the list.

another note is that the list does contain boodlers who no longer participate in the boodlin'

When I first saw the photo of our new family planing guy, I thought it was Saddam. I'm just saying.

SoC- I must violetly disagree (check the colour of my face). The Regency episodes of the Blackadder Saga are far superior to any of the others.
I expressed my admiration for the Blackadder programmes to an English relative. Her response was that she found them sophomoric.
Er, Ya!

I just ordered one of the Wooster and Jeeves tapes from Netflix, I am hoping against hope that it shows up today so I can play it for the daughters tomorrow. The post office here is very, very slow. The weekly magazines rarely show up until the following week and I'm still getting mail for the previous owners almost 6 months later. Maybe it's because I'm mostly of English descent, but I too just love their humor (except for Benny Hill and Mr. Bean). And Hugh Laurie is my dream man.

Oh, sure. Tokenism, TBG. Just tokenism. We are not amused.

(Yes we are.)

Boko, LOL at your 10:30.

My wife remarked this morning that today is November 22 --a date that people "our age" would remember. So RIP, JFK.

(Also, it's our first adopted daughter's "Gotcha Day." Happy gotcha day, Cassie.)

And of course it wouldn't be Thanksgiving Season without a reference to that wonderful WKRP in Cincinnati episode where where Les Nesman drops live turkeys from an airplane, and in horror watches them plummet to the ground. Side-splitting.

As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.

Mudge, thanks for the memory. "Oh, the humanity!"

Thanks Mudge, can't stop smiling at the WKRP reference.

Oh, Jeez. WaPo just posted a ridiculous photo of Bush pardoning the turkey. Bush has his hand on the turkey's neck and --er -- appears to be pushing the turkey's head down to his crotch. And the look on Bush's face is priceless.

Ya, I like the Blackadder series' too.
All of 'em.

The WKRP turkey giveaway is one of the all-time classic moments in TV history, no question.

In light of recent events, I'm still trying to figure out it's passed the "I'm out!" moment on Seinfeld.

Gotta admit, I've never read "Hocus Pocus", omni. I may have to, now.

bc

That photo is not exactly dignified is it?

Bush looks like Jon Stewart doing Bush.

Best WKP episode ever.

OH The Humanity!!

Back to an earlier discussion, just reading the article on Keroack, he will head the HHS's Office of Population Affairs. Is that not government speak at is worst.

SCC: WKRP of course...
really, I need to learn how to use this thing.

I just read Peter Whoriskey's article on the GA anti sex-offender law. The mindlessness of this is unbelievable.

I am wholly against sex offenders being allowed in certain areas, but to kick sick people out of their homes, and hospital beds???

//The residency law applies not only to sexual predators but to all people registered for sexual crimes, including men and women convicted of having underage consensual sex while in high school.//

Alright, seriously. What the heck? So a person has "consensual sex" when they and their partner are underage and get caught, and suddenly they can no longer live at home? Kicking a teenager out of the community for having sex with his or her girl/boyfriend?

I don't know nut there is something wrong with a law that takes people in dependant situations and leaves them and their families high and dry.

Kerric, The "Oh the humanity line" lifted that scene from hilarious to excrutiating.
A great moment in American Sitcom, right up there with "The Death of Chuckles the Clown" on Mary Tyler Moore.
To paraphrase James Carville, "It's the writing Stupid"

yoki, thanks for the recipe. sounds great.

happy thanksgiving and safe travels to everyone!

The thing that really gets my goat, is that this law will place parents of children caught having sexual acts in the same boat as a serial rapist, because "They didn't do enough to prevent the child from having sexual intercourse".

Has any parent ever truly been able to prevent their teen from doing something, if that child is intent? From going anywhere?

I think not.

check out these colorful celebrity pans:

http://galleryoftheabsurd.typepad.com/

I'd just settle for an uniform marriage law in the US that says nobody under say, 17 can get married. Look at that polygamy case in Utah... the girl was 14. Now, that is actually a LEGAL age to get married in Utah. The only issue here, Utah law-wise, is of coercion.

A quick topical Thanksgiving greeting from me to everyone in the Boodle:

http://www.10thcircle.com/10/?p=149

bc

Something interesting happened in France yesterday. You will be able to turn on all your appliances.
http://www.iter.org/a/index_nav_6.htm

Mudge, I loved WKRP when it was on television. And the guy that played the lead on that show was too good for words. In fact, to my way of thinking he was the show. Howard, something, can't remember his last name.

And the picture of our President with the turkey did not look good. Who took that picture? They had to be waiting for the right moment.

Kb, you are so right about the things we can do to help environmentally, also help our good health. Thanks for thinking of me.

The rain has slowed down some, but it is windy. And cold. G-girl and I had soup for lunch.

I'm not cooking for Thanksgiving. We went yesterday and got a box from the food bank, but I don't feel like cooking a big meal. We will probably go over to my father's house, that is where everyone will be, and enjoy each other and give thanks.