Hoopin'

Lately I've rediscovered a long lost passion for hula hooping. I first learned the fancy kind when I was working as a tap dancer on this bizarro promotional tour for kid's water bottles. One of the other performers was a hoop dancer and she started showing me halos while I taught her buffalos.

This video makes me feel like a five year old watching the Olympic figure skaters again. Go to 20 seconds and watch her. Amazing.

A Rose is a...

I made rose flavored ice cream the other night - fresh, cool, perfectly smooth, fragrant, nostalgic, just lovely.

Whatever happened to Lilly Hahn?

I've recently been poring over 'The Crisis in Intuition' - a paper by Hans Hahn, founding member of the Vienna circle and early 20th century mathematician. At one point, he is passionately describing the removal of intuition from mathematics and says, 'The simple geometric proposition that "every closed polygon that does not cross itself divides the plane into two separate parts" requires a lengthy and highly complicated proof. This is true to an even greater degree of the analogous proposition of solid geometry: "every closed polyhedron that does not intersect itself divides space into two separate parts.'

The latter proof is referenced, and upon checking the end notes, I found that it was published by one 'Lilly Hahn'.

Lilly, thought I, a woman? Sister to Hans? Getting excited I googled 'Lilly Hahn', and found one relevant hit, in the wikipedia article on Hans: 'He married in 1909 Eleonore ("Lilly") Hahn, and they had a baby, Nora'. That was all. So she was his wife, but... but...where did she come from? Where did she train? What else did she prove? So far, I can't find anything about her - no articles on Google scholar, no other mention of her work. How perfectly infuriating. This is not the only one. The history of mathematics (and science) is littered with such desaparecidas.

Slurp Slurp

I've been voraciously watching 'True Blood' online. The show is basically mythology mixed with soft core porn (though, come to think of it, many of the good mythologies are pretty pornographic themselves).

I've always been a sucker for ur-stories - the ones that keep echoing through the ages - and this does a good job of serving them up fresh.

Stupid $#%ing Bunnies

I will never read my children the Beatrix Potter stories about Peter Rabbit. Some nibbly little fellow managed to destroy three of my nearly grown cauliflowers and about 12 juvenile cabbages and cauliflowers last night. I can't believe the carnage!

Poor Farmer McGregor was just a hard-working guy trying to put food on the table, and Peter and family were lazy theives.

Old Timey Music

Listen to this! No school like the old school, eh?

Rooster-Cat

Here's a little kitty-porn. Catsius Clay dressed as a rooster from this past Halloween.

Cannary

I had no idea that photographs of Calamity Jane (Martha Jane Cannary Burke) were readily available on the internet. She wasn't much of a looker:

But apparently worked to support her five younger brothers and sisters as a dance hall girl - and as a hooker!! The wikipedia article on her mentions it completely out of the blue. What?!

She also claimed that Wild Bill Hickok was the father of her child - Jane - though no one seemed to have believed her. Jane Jr. was put up for adoption. As was the other Jane Jr., born fourteen years later. So...she had two daughters, named them both after herself, and gave them both away.

When she died, she was buried next to Wild Bill, apparently because four of his friends planned her funeral and thought it would be hilarious to stick him with her for all eternity. He apparently couldn't stand her in real life.

Immersion Foot

I've just been reading, for no clear reason, the Handbook of First Aid Treatment for Survivors of Disasters at Sea issued in 1943 by the US Navy. Fascinating stuff.

I found it because I had just been fantasizing about what I would do if a passel of starving children were dropped at my doorstep, and realized that I didn't know how to treat starvation. Looks like you want to give them sugary liquids, vitamins, and broth the first day, add gruel the next, and proper meals the day after that. Luckily I already have the necessary supplies, so if those children show up, I'll be ready.

Less relevant to my life is the treatment of 'immersion foot', but I still have committed it to memory just in case. Keep legs raised, don't allow the patient to walk, cool the legs and feet without getting them wet, keep the rest of the body warm.

Carucci

I'd like to direct you to the website of Elinor Carucci, a woman I once studied photography with:

At the time, she had recently finished 'Closer' (the body of work linked to above). I found it (and her) so entrancing. The work is quiet, intimate, and mysterious. You feel as if you live in her dark house full of dark haired family. 'Diary of a Dancer' I thought disappointing - too conceptual and messy where the previous work was concise. Her new stuff, though, looks very good to me, a natural extension of her best.

My favorite is the picture of her body after the c section. Powerful, full. She worked as a belly dancer, which makes this picture somehow more meaningful to me. Giving birth reshapes your body, and that seems more *something* in a woman who depended on having it the way it was.

I had forgotten, but she was actually pregnant with her twins when she was teaching us, and taking a five hour train every week on her commute. The doctor told her she needed to rest more, so she would lie down on the floor of class and hold discussion from there.

Rocket

Can we all start calling arugula 'rocket' again?

We have the teeniest little sprouts of it coming up, and when I eat it, I want to think about spaceships.

Apparently 'rocket' is a bastardization of the French 'roquette'. It can also be called rugola or rucola (which I didn't know).

The Clanders

Sig: So, there is this tiny nation on an oil rig called Sealand.

Me: Cland?

Sig: ?

Me: You know, C-land, Cland? Get it?

Sig: Oh yeah, I guess that is funny.

But the more germane bit of the story is the following - 'Sealand' is a base off the coast of England built during WWII to deter Nazi attack. It consists of two towers that stand on a sand bar and a platform on top. At one point, 150-300 British soldiers were stationed there.

Things went wonky when one of Britains famous 'pirate radio' DJs, Major Paddy Roy Bates, took up residence there in 1967 to broadcast his station. He named the base Sealand and began ejecting intruders to his 'territorial waters' by threatening them with gun shot. A case was brought against him in British court, and was rejected because Sealand lies in international waters where British law doesn't hold. Bates subsequently printed up passports, made a flag, and invented a currency for Sealand.

According to its constitution (written by Bates) Sealand is a constitutional monarchy. He is 'Prince Roy', his wife 'Princess Joan', and their son is the 'Prince Regent'. In 2008 an athlete represented Sealand in the egg throwing world championship and won.

Here is my favorite part, though. There exists a Sealandic Rebel Government, a self styled government in exile led by the self styled prime minister of Sealand. This all began when some fellow named Achenbach stormed the base with helicopters and motorboats in the 70's and took Bates' son hostage. Bates, though, retook the base and kept Achenbach hostage for ransom money. He eventually released Achenbach, who set up the rebel government, which, to this day, claims to be the rightful government of Sealand.

Home sweet Sealand.

Blind Snake

A friend just posted that her boyfriend found a worm-sized blind snake today. I went quickly to the 'tubes' to investigate these 'blind snakes', and look!

Look at this teeny little guy! There are many species of them, some breathtakingly small and perfect. I like animals that look like they're made of plastic. For this reason I've always had a passion for amphibians - mini frogs and salamanders in particular (caecilians are weird). They inspire such a feeling of awe at the seeming impossibility of life. How do these little guys work?

Wegman's Weimaraners

I love that William Wegman has made an entire career out of photographing weimaraners. To me, this is a testament to doing what moves you.

Asafowhata?

I've recently become increasingly obsessed with the flavor and smell of asafoetida (or devil's dung) - a cooking powder derived from a species of Ferula (the same plant that Prometheus used to smuggle fire to humanity).

I have a jar of delicious mango pickle that I often offer to dinner guests with the warning that it's a very acquired taste. The main point of oddity is the asafoetida, which is quite strong in the pickles. It's incredibly hard to describe. Acrid? Sour? Pungent? These are all correct but, of course, don't capture the essence of the thing. I recommend heading right down to your local Indian food store for a smell.

One last note - asafoetida may have some of the same medicinal properties as its now extinct cousin Silphium, which the Greeks and Romans used so extensively that it was said to be 'worth it's weight in denari'. Chief among Silphium's medicinal uses? Contraceptive.

Strange Little Beer Owl

Since moving to the west coast, Sig and I haven't been able to brew beer. (All our equipment is in a basement in Hoboken.) Last week, though, we caved and decided to buy new stuff - our dreams of somehow shipping or driving a bunch of 5 gallon buckets/enormous pots cross country were, we decided, impractical.

We went to a local beer store called O'Sheas where a very helpful, and very manic salesman put a kit together for us. Meanwhile we perused their beer selection. I was immediately drawn to a bottle with a strange, little owl on it, and a mountain, and the words 'Hitachino Nest Beer'. (It's the Celebration Ale.)

I love this owl. It's just totally awesome looking. And the taste list for the Celebration Ale is - coriander, orange peel, nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla. Lovely sweetness. Further updates when I actually taste it. Meanwhile, here is our star:

Kitten Personalities

Where do they come from? Why does Catsius Clay want to lay down on any paper you're reading? Why does he love to eat tomatoes (especially large, soft heirlooms)? Or to put his head under the faucet?

Why is Caterine the Great obsessed with my shawl from India? From whence her passion for pastries? (So far cherry scone is her favorite.)

Why does Chairman Meow want to chew off any exposed strings, ropes, or bunches of hair he can (including bathing suit strings, shoe laces, carpet fringe, my post-shower hair, and the kitten's whiskers)? Why is it that every morning around 10 he wanders the house yowling like he's going to die?

Why does Margaret Catcher like to get in the tub with me?

Synchronicity

Each person has a window of time during which events seem simultaneous. This window, incidentally, is not the same for all senses. Click-fusion, or experience of simultaneity in audible clicks, will happen for any two stimuli less than .005 seconds apart (for normal people.) Two flashes of light, on the other hand, will appear simultaneous as far as .03 seconds apart. These windows grow larger with age.

More bizarre still is that our brain will alter our experience of simultaneity to match a visual cue with it's accompanying sound only up to a certain distance, and then, suddenly, the two will seem out of sync.

And, here is the real kicker, the brain unconsciously compensates for imposed time lags on simultaneity between the senses until they are perceptually invisible. In studies where subjects move a computer mouse, but the clicker on the screen moves only after a delay, subjects report that after a short period they stop experiencing a delay between their movement and that of the clicker. When the mouse and clicker are synced up again, these subjects, for a brief while, will have the bizarre experience of seeing the clicker move before their hand does. Obviously it isn't, but they feel as if it is.

Heirloom Seeds

I just bought a ludicrously large cache of seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, a company recently profiled in the NY Times for their seed bank and selection of fantastic and strange heirlooms. (Also, it's run by a ridiculously cute young couple.)

Sig and I were thinking of getting some arugula, and maybe a nice kale or two. But the names of the plants and their descriptions were so fantastic that we couldn't stop. We bought Giant of Naples cauliflowers and Black from Tula tomatoes, Crane Melons and Emerald Gems, Alabama Red Okra and Crystal Apple Cucumber (white and the shape of a large egg).

Here is a sample description for the Cherokee Purple Tomato -

80 days. An old Cherokee Indian heirloom, pre-1890 variety; beautiful deep dusky purple-pink color, superb sweet flavor, and very large sized fruit. Try this one for real old-time tomato flavor. My favorite dark tomato!

They should arrive in 4-7 days. We can. not. wait.