I stumbled (again) upon the story of Stanislov Petrov, the Russian officer who didn’t press the Big Red Button back in 1983. Full story here. Little things like this usually make us wipe our forehead and shout “Whew! That was close!” The funny thing is, both the Russian and American arsenals are still on hair-trigger [...]
Archive for February, 2008
The Gin Game…and Beefeaters, Anyway
February 16th, 2008
No Comments
Went and saw Paragon Theatre’s production of The Gin Game by D.L. Coburn tonight. I caught the #7 north to 24th and Downing, then just walked over a few blocks. Stopped in to the coffee/ice cream shop to get a cappuccino. As I sat in the Crossroads Theatre before the show admiring the set (it [...]
There’s Whiskey in the Jar
February 16th, 2008
No Comments
I quite accidentally ended up at Whole Foods this morning; just woke up in the Bulk Foods aisle. Weird, right? Anywho, I roamed about the place and picked up some sodium-free Nu-Salt. Apparently, it uses potassium chloride instead of the NaCl version. Picked up a bottle of High Country ginger kombucha, and finally bought a [...]
Northern Illinois University
February 14th, 2008
No Comments
On an unrelated note: The horrifying news today out of Northern Illinois University. A gunman walked into a lecture hall and shot 21 people, killing 5 of them, before turning the gun on himself. I first heard about it after reading a Facebook status update from a friend of mine who is a student at [...]
Well It’s 50 Cups of Coffee and You Know It’s On
February 14th, 2008
No Comments
I was reading a blog earlier today; something chronicling the Long War. There was an Iraqi flag on the sidebar linking to somewhere else. I read the words in the middle; it was the takbir (Allahu akbar). After a second or two, my mind registered the fact that I had read the Arabic script. Martin [...]
Old Smells p.2
February 13th, 2008
No Comments
The Campus Bank today smelled like the home of my Aunt and Uncle in the suburbs back in Illinois. I like that smell; it comes to me far more often than the other old ones. It’s not that it’s particularly comforting or anything, no more so than the others. I just like the thought of [...]
Identity (Iteration 1)
February 13th, 2008
No Comments
What are we to make of intersecting identities? I relate this to a very old Values Council discussion (it happened to be our first in the virtual world, actually). The question was posited, “Why is religious identity such a big damn deal now?” I suppose this ignores questions like, “Has it always been?” or “OH [...]
Statistically Significant
February 12th, 2008
No Comments
Woke this morning with the phone not answering my commands. Went south. Forgot my Stats notebook. Laptop screen died. Pen ran out of ink. Class took a long time. Lots of other mostly terrible stuff, but at least my head wasn’t aching like yesterday Came home. Lots of boxes in the mail. Ran to store [...]
Empire Strikes Back
February 11th, 2008
No Comments
Empire (specifically the American blend), as we conceive of it today, is no longer the globe-spanning economic/linguistic political structure that we knew from the days when the Union Jack flew highly and proudly from many corners of the world. Nor is it as simple as America’s enormous overseas military presence. No, today’s Empire is far [...]
Hay Mow
February 10th, 2008
No Comments
A hay mow, in case you weren’t aware, is where you store hay. You pronounce it like “hey now.” I’ve always had a hay mow where I’ve lived. Not so much in the last few years; no room in apartments for hay and such. There are many fond memories related to hay mows in my [...]
