30 October 05
Avian Flu as Halloween Costume
I spent Friday afternoon helping some TV reporters from San Francisco while they interviewed Wildlife Health Center Director Walter Boyce—again—on the threat of avian flu from wild birds.
A reporter called Walter Thursday afternoon from Vermont saying there was a black-tailed gull on Lake Champlain, a bird that by rights should really be in the Sea of Japan, and did it pose any kind of flu threat? Poor Walter. He hadn’t had breakfast or lunch but he tried to answer as best he could, calling from Southern California to see if I knew anything about this bird (I didn’t, though I’ve seen one in Rhode Island) and whether it might be a vector for AI H5N1 (avian flu, the scary kind) (yes, it might, according to a Japanese paper published in 1982).
The Friday San Francisco reporters were interesting and after the interview we were able to talk about the world and Harriet Miers and Colin Powell and what might happen. I invited a couple of guys from the New York Times over for dinner last week after they’d locked their keys in the trunk. There are way more boring folks to run into in the parking lot as you leave to go home, for sure. The problem is that now there are so many of them. For now. Once the pandemic hits nobody will be the slightest bit interested in wild birds as vectors…
Above, left, I’m dressed as avian flu, talking to a veterinarian and a vet tech on either clicker-training (the witch is an authority on the subject) or West Nile Virus (the crow is an authority on THAT).
29 October 05
Valles Caldera
During my conference in Albuquerque, we went on a field trip to the Jemez Mountains and the Valles Caldera National Preserve. This is the best preserved location of a caldera complex volcano in the world, about 30 miles in diameter. This is a view of one of the volcanic domes in the caldera, Cerro La Jara, which is visible from NM Highway 4.
28 October 05
Rain
I hesitate to celebrate the arrival of rain when it’s such a problem for others, but, well, the rain’s arrived.
The smell of damp earth. Gone are those hot dusty days when you could hardly breathe. The grass alfalfa field has a few rogue sprouts of wheat that have gone bananas.
I got Numenius from the airport this evening. He has many sketches from the Jemez mountains, a place where there’s also very low rainfall.
It feels like time to snuggle and give thanks for the rain.
27 October 05
Champions
I’ve been off in Albuquerque at a meeting this week. This has meant that I got to watch a good bit of the World Series from my hotel room. As everybody knows by now, the Chicago White Sox won their first World Series in 88 years yesterday. It was a very good series. Although the White Sox swept the Astros, all of the games were close. Tuesday night’s game lasted 14 innings, and the final game was a pitcher’s duel ending in a 1-0 Sox victory. Congratulations to all the Chicago fans—the Sox played masterfully!
25 October 05
Using Language
Today I co-taught a class on Culturally Inclusive and Non-Violent Language. Here’s why this is important:
“Keep your thoughts positive
Because your thoughts become your words
Keep your words positive
Because your words become your behavior
Keep your behaviorf positive
Because your behavior becomes your habit
Keep your habits positive
Because your habits become your values
Keep your values positive
Because your values become your destiny.”
—Mahatma Gandhi
24 October 05
Bartók on the Mind
I have no idea why Bela Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra is running through my head right now since it has been a zillion years since I’ve heard the piece, but there you have it. I think I have a tape of it around someplace—will have to dredge it up.
23 October 05
Baraka
I somehow managed to miss Baraka when it first came out, though it undoubtedly played in Cambridge when I was there.
One of the Wildlife Health Center students—the same one who taught us all how to dance salsa back in August—thinks everyone should see this film, so she organized a party around it this evening.
Not unlike Koyanisqaatsi for the developing world, minus the Philip Glass. I’m still reeling from the images: snow monkeys in their bath, monks, temples, clouds, rush hour in Tokyo, baby chickens getting their beaks burned.
Kuwait oil fields on fire.
I think Tamara’s right: everyone should see this.
22 October 05
The Wide and Tall Guy
We went over to Chris and Karen’s this evening to watch the first game of the World Series. It was a very good game—the Chicago White Sox ended up winning 5-3. Their starting pitcher, Jose Contreras, was not overpowering, but kept the Houston Astros under control and was finally lifted for reliever Neil Cotts after giving up a leadoff double at the beginning of the 8th. Cotts struck out two batters, and then the White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen called in the big guy, with both arms apart gesturing wide, then tall. This was rookie reliever Bobby Jenks who, as we found out, happens to throw 100 mile per hour fastballs. I haven’t seen one of those in a while. Neither, it seemed, had the Astros hitter Jeff Bagwell, who struck out to end the 8th.
We were all rooting for the White Sox, though not with any great fervor. But none of us can stand A.J. Pierzynski, the Sox catcher, since he left a bad taste for Giants fans in his season with the team last year. Karen won the inning-by-inning pool at the end, but Pica did well too since the score remained stuck at 4-3 for four innings.
21 October 05
Davis Fast For A Day
Today the city of Davis was encouraged to fast in solidarity with the Muslim community, culminating in this evening’s Iftar celebration at the Davis Senior Center. About 500 people were in attendance, a chaotic mix of voices and colors, ages, languages, starting with dates and milk and ending with baklava and almond pastries.
I fasted. I don’t do this very often; the last time I did was for Yom Kippur a few years ago. It draws you inward, making you slightly apart from the world. I went for a walk at lunchtime, enjoying the day; I felt a little misted. It’s hard to describe.
People whose tradition calls on them to fast regularly speak of this apartness, how it’s an important part of their spirituality. I can see how that would be.
Fasting has kind of gone away in Christianity, at least in the earnest form being practiced this Ramadan by students in Davis. Maybe people miss a meal on Ash Wednesday or Good Friday but mostly not; “fasting and abstinence” implies some kind of food since abstaining from food should include abstaining from meat. I’m not sure where this went, or why, but it seems an important spiritual practice in most traditions, and gets you in touch with your core pretty quickly.
And then there’s the useful reminder that the majority of people in the world fast every day, not from choice…
20 October 05
Tagging the Bay Area
The website Urbanitic provides a setting to tag in a manner similar to del.icio.us your favorite places in the Bay Area and comment on other peoples’ contributions. Tags range from burritos to gentrification. And this being the last half of 2005, there is of course a Google Maps interface to the site.