An anchorite in the blog desert. Andrea's design has gone monastic. I hope this does not presage a vow of non-spleenitude.

Every other inch a lady. The things some wags will get up to.

UPDATE: Sigh. Whyever did I think a blogspot hyperlink would work? Scroll down to Tuesday, November 11, 2003, 1:31 am.

Step away from the counter with your hands up. And here I am getting disturbed when a cashier can't make change for my coke if the cash register's down. This is just frightening. (Via Matt Bruce.)

UPDATE: Coffee Grounds has more on the subject.

Mars when I was young. State-of-the-art red planet c. late 19th century.

The cheetos were, too, funny. Glad to see I wasn't the only one who laughed.

Toward a new definition of "adult content", or, the blogulator. That is, a specimen of vaporware that I was idly spinning in my imagination a couple of weekends ago. The spouse was taken with the idea and has actually cogitated and coded upon it a bit. (We're a good team that way - I do all the lying on my chaise longue eating bon bons and bloviating grand theorizin' and deep-thinkin'.)

The theory behind the blogulator is this: I was wishing for a ruthlessly efficient way to grade political/cultural blogs, such that no link to a no-'count writer would be followed, and the discovery of worthwhile new poli/culti blogs would be facilitated. As Fleck put it, a way to sort out the adults from the feces-flingers, site unseen. I have noted that good blogs, no matter which way they swing, share a "tone" that contrasts with the distinct tones of both stupid-left and stupid-right blogs. It is not at all a matter of the worthwhile blogs being always moderate, calm, all sweetness and light, and lacking in strongly expressed opinion. Rather, it strikes me this way: the less worthwhile a lefty blog is, the more it takes on a recognizable tone of foot-stamping shrill petulance; the vapid righty blog will tend more and more to blustering thuggishness. (My hat is off to those geniuses who contrive to be shrilly thuggish and blusteringly petulant all at once. I can think of one or two I've come across in the past that fulfill those criteria; send me any examples you can think of, if you will, just for my amusement.) Sadly, they don't all start out that way. Over the last couple of years I've removed one or two from bookmarks and blogroll: "funny, I don't remember this site being so heavy on upper case letters and voodoo curses...")

So, my mission is first to demonstrate that the above perception accurately reflects reality, and then to find some means of detecting tone via keyword, content, whatever. There may be a matter of filtering the non-partisan annoyances, such as the scat of the righteous earnest who believe with all their innocent hearts that people disagree with or criticize them only because people have missed their point (which they, with fingers firmly in ears, will reiterate for those hapless people interminably). I suspect a well-constructed Tone Master would root them out too, though.

...the meandering above constitutes what they call "displacement activity"; that is, it is an indication that I have many dull duties to which I should be attending. First, more coffee. Now, where did I put that Cabela's catalogue? Ooooh, silk long johns...oooh, expensive beautiful gore-tex hiking boots that I have no earthly need for this year...ooooh, camo nighties....Camo nighties? OK, that's it. Back to work.

Skull fights, cont'd. Interesting imbroglio over a skull, the law, and public opinion. This eBay auctioneer is correct in his belief that NAGPRA does not cover remains from outside the United States - still, one can see why he's in a pickle with more than a few people.

Museums do repatriate remains to non-U.S. groups, though I don't know if there are any mechanisms for, or expressed interest from any groups in, repatriating Inca of other South American remains.

A patriot and a gentleman. If you haven't already seen it, Armed Liberal had one of the best of the Veterans Day essays over at Winds of Change.

A few posts above you will find an entry that is pertinent to a discussion of American civic ideals. In it Armed Liberal puts out a plea for help for a felllow blogger who's also a political opponent. There's an astonishing comment (#2) which states, essentially, that the writer wouldn't help out a decent man whose views he deplores. To which Armed Liberal replies:

He comes by his beliefs genuinely, and he is willing to engage opponents in honest and serious dialog.

That's all I ever ask of anyone. I think he's deeply wrong about the war; I know you're free to do what you will with your cash - but I also know that the ultimate test of my character is how I treat my opponents.

Not that my own character hasn't failed that test repeatedly, but, Amen.

Now, how to get it under the tree. Perfect gift idea for the spousal unit for Christmas. Oh man, he'd have so much fun with this. And parts of the yard could actually use this approach.

Holiday reading. Looks like it's that time of year again. Time to think about where we stored the holiday decorations and that copy of The Toys of Peace.

Clear sailing. Re the previous post: actually, the night is clear, except for clouding on the southern horizon, and we have a splendid view of the progressing eclipse of the rising moon.

Spouse is now down in the basement rooting around for the tripod, extant film, etc. Go out and take a look. Totality between 7:06 and 7:31 Central.

UPDATE: Must sacrifice in gratitude to the weather gods. A perfect night, perfect view for a lunar eclipse. The sparkling Pleiades rising a little below and to the north of the eclipsing moon, and even the sweep of the Milky Way vaguely visible. Eclipsed moon looking properly, eerily Martian.

Must return to work on my diabolical plan for shutting down the streetlights so the blazing glory of the night sky will be visible from my backyard. Shooting the lights out would be too obvious; the neighbors might object. The street light closest to my house went out one night, significantly improving viewing. Damned efficient city had it fixed in a day, though.

I'll keep working on the plan. Wonder if any of our photos will turn out...

The weather gods hate me. Oh bloody hell. We've had fine clear skies for the last few nights (and beautiful chilly clear days). Tonight there will be a lovely total lunar eclipse to behold. Naturally, it is predicted that my skies will be overcast with a chance of flurries.

No aurorae last week from the solar flares for me, either. Just like the time we drove out to the sticks a couple of years ago, under clear skies, to see what was an unusually fine Leonids display - only to have the skies cloud over as the time approached. And oh yes, that trip to the McDonald observatory in west Texas. Clearest skies and finest star gazing in the contiguous states. Clouded over. (Not to diss the area around the observatory. I've been there on clear nights when I didn't have a reservation for the observatory's public shows. Beautiful night sky.)

But happy viewing to the those of you out there who are smiled upon by the weather gods.

Viva Los Muertos!