At least folks have to wait for a request

From Kay at The Gimp Parade, this funny vandalized sign.

Now I have images of drooling, hungrily grinning ABs with cutlery stalking PWDs dancing in my head.

Not disability related, but folks have asked/wondered

In response to questions and comments on Beth's safari post, I offer you

RHINOCEROS PORN!!!


Diceros bicornis, black -- Please note the pointed upperlip.





Ceratotherium simum or Rhinoceros ceratotherium, white -- Please note the square upperlip. The lips are the easiest way to tell them apart other than size.





Rhinoceros unicornis, Indian or greater one-horned





Dicerorhinus sumatrensis, Sumatran or hairy





Rhinoceros sondaicus, Javan



Lots of good, concise info here.

Remembered in Bronze

Here's a case in which I doubt my friend/sister Beth would say, "Screw Bronze!"

Professor Stephen Hawking will have a bronze statue cast in his honor and placed near his office in the Cambridge University Centre for Theoretical Cosmology. The artist has not given a date for when the ten foot statue will be finished and set.

I don't understand how there are people who don't know what strides this man has made in science. Did you read the comments section of the article? I present for your shock the first commenter, Mr. Keith Sloan -- "I wish I had a better understanding of what Stephen Hawking's has actually achieved. Okay there is theory of Hawking Radiation with Black holes, but I thought it was unproven and some experts completely be-little his maths/calculations. Stephen seems totally over rated when compared to say Newton."

A) I'll be nice and ignore your grammar (e.g., the possessive in the first sentence).

B) Not all scientists agree with each other, Mr. Sloan. In fact, your precious Isaac Newton had his deterrents (e.g., Robert Hooke, the father of microscopy and the man who coined the term "cell"). Half the fun of science is coming up with new, radical ideas, and just because Dr. Hawking's hypothesis is still being discussed does not mean he's overrated. I figure if you're going to put yourself on a first-name basis with one of the greatest minds of our time, the least you could do is be a bit more polite.

Or how about Mr. Ben Cossey who cuts to the chase: " . . . he's done nothing note-worthy and i find it a little insulting he gets a statue."

A) "I" is capitalized.

B) If he's done nothing noteworthy, why is he paid to travel the world to speak? Why did the Cambridge students set all this in motion? Speaking as a former university instructor and future university professor, there is no greater honor than to be told by a student that you are an effective educator. And I promise you, if you say he's getting special attention because of his disability, my 300+ pound wheelchair with my 130ish pound fat ass in it may just show your feet or knees some special attention.

Congratulations, Dr. Hawking. Thank you Cambridge students and Ms. Shepherd.

It's been a while

Well, life goes on -- even when you lose the majority of your baby fish to a power outage brought on by a hurricane. You get frustrated, you get mildly (or not so mildly) depressed, but you just keep plugging because the alternative -- the big "Q" -- makes you feel like you're going to throw up.

So what have I been up to? I've been analyzing hatching data collected by my assistants which is at times a bit confusing to figure out. I've been working on an essay about how scientists can actually in fact be spiritual that I will submit for consideration by an author who is putting together an anthology on totemism and animism. I need to be working harder on it as it's due on November 1st. I also need to be working harder on my prospectus, the presentation for my General Exam, a fellowship application (since I probably won't be finished by next summer with this latest setback), and a poster abstract for a conference in the spring. The fellowship application and the poster abstract are due by the end of November.

I do my best work under stress.

The Lucky Mutant

Check out this video posted by Mark Siegel at The 19th Floor about a guy with spinal muscular atrophy.

Certain little things about this guy reminded me of my brother. I almost started to cry.