The Doctor

From the National Weather Service in Chanhassen, MN (near Minneapolis): "STORM TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS SHOULD RANGE FROM 9 TO 12 INCHES IN MOST LOCATIONS...WITH AS MUCH AS 15 TO 18 INCHES POSSIBLE..." Yippee. A winter storm.

Check here: http://pyracy.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4630 :)

I thought the "Lizard King" was a reference to Jim Morrison...

Fisherman Catches Rare Colossal Squid Off Antarctic Coast Thursday , February 22, 2007 AP WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A New Zealand fishing crew has caught an adult colossal squid, a sea creature with eyes as big as dinner plates and razor-sharp hooks on its tentacles, an official said Thursday. New Zealand Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton said the squid, weighing an estimated 990 pounds, took two hours to land in Antarctic waters. The fishermen were catching Patagonian toothfish south of New Zealand "and the squid was eating a hooked toothfish when it was hauled from the deep," he said. Colossal squid, known by the scientific name Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, are estimated to grow up to 46 feet long and have long been one of the most mysterious creatures of the deep ocean. Experts have not yet examined the squid, but if original estimates are correct it is about 330 pounds heavier than the next biggest specimen ever found. The first specimen of a colossal squid, a 330-pound immature female, was caught on the surface in the Ross Sea near the Antarctic coast in April 2004. Steve O'Shea, a squid expert at the Auckland University of Technology, said the latest specimen eclipsed that find and scientists would be very excited. "I can assure you that this is going to draw phenomenal interest. It is truly amazing," he said. If calamari rings were made from the squid they would be the size of tractor tires, he added. The animal can move through the water to a depth of 6,500 feet and is extremely active and an aggressive killer, he said. The frozen squid is to be transported to New Zealand's national museum, Te Papa, in the capital, Wellington, to be preserved for scientific study. Marine scientists "will be very interested in this amazing creature as it adds immeasurably to our understanding of the marine environment," Anderton said. Colossal squid are found in Antarctic waters and are not related to giant squid (Architeuthis species) found around the coast of New Zealand. Giant squid grow up to 39 feet, but are not as heavy.

Even Lucas had the smarts to dump the ridiculous "Yub-yub" song on the re-release of Episode VI.

And no one is saying that artifacts should not be recovered. But when modern archaeological techniques are ignored in the recovery of artifacts, the line between preserving history and simple plundering has been crossed.

10.) When Spock mind probes him, Spock gets hammered. 9.) Wakes up next to a Klingon chick at least once a week. 8.) Starts the ship’s self-destruct sequence just to screw with the yeoman who blew him off in the officer’s lounge. 7.) Each time you discover a new planet he tells Spock to scan the surface for cheap scotch and loose females. 6.) The first thing he says when negotiating with Romulans is, “So, what’s the ale situation?” 5.) McCoy tells him, “I’m a doctor, Jim, not a bartender!” 4.) He keeps slipping down to the engineering room to “discuss ancient Scottish traditions” with Scotty. 3.) Giggles every time Spock says they should launch a “deep space probe.” 2.) Whenever a female yeoman brings him a clipboard he tries to open a tab. 1.) Is willing to make beer runs into the neutral zone.

Welcome back!!

Here's a recent archaeological article on peppers. ***************************************** Archaeologists: Chili Peppers Cooked, Eaten 6,000 Years Ago Thursday , February 15, 2007 AP WASHINGTON — Who says food fads can't last? Thousands of years before the advent of Tex-Mex, ancient Americans were spicing up stew with red hot chili peppers. New fossil evidence shows prehistoric people from southern Peru up to the Bahamas were cultivating varieties of chilies millennia before Columbus' arrival brought the spice to world cuisine. The earliest traces so far are from southwestern Ecuador, where families fired up meals with homegrown peppers about 6,100 years ago. The discovery, reported Friday in the journal Science, suggests early New World agriculture was more sophisticated than once thought. "Some people who have described ancient food ways as being simple will probably have to rethink their ideas because of this work," said lead researcher Linda Perry of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. "It tells us a lot about what was going on around the prehistoric hearth," adds co-author Deborah Pearsall, an anthropology professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia, who found evidence of chili-laced stew in pots in an ancient Ecuadorean village. Archaeologists trace food origins not just from curiosity about the ancients' everyday lives. How a crop spreads sheds light on prehistoric travel and trade. In the Middle East, figs were domesticated 11,400 years ago. Wheat wasn't far behind. In the New World, corn was being cultivated around 9,000 years ago. How do you trace a pepper, which leaves no husk or other easily fossilized evidence? A dozen researchers at seven sites around Latin America kept finding microscopic starch grains on grindstones and cooking vessels and in trash heaps. Perry finally identified these microfossils as residue from domesticated, not wild, chili species that in some spots even predated the invention of pottery. "We now have a marker, in starch granules, that allows us to look back in time and demonstrate the widespread use of domesticated chili peppers throughout the Americas at much earlier times than previously documented," said botanist W. Hardy Eshbaugh of Miami University in Ohio, a pepper expert not involved in the research. The microfossils suggest vitamin C-rich chilies were usually mixed with corn and a few other foods, not just used as a spice. Now the hunt is on for the first site of homegrown chilies. It can't be Ecuador, too far from where wild chilies flourish in Bolivia and Brazil. "Whether this is migration of people or early trade is one of the fascinating questions," said Pearsall, who calls these early farmers pretty sophisticated. "They were not at the edge of starvation. ... People were growing all kinds of things and not just focusing on staples."

Adam and the Ants - Desperate But Not Serious

And we're sorry to hear about you falling ill in Chicago. We had a fabulous time, so much so that we're going on next year's cruise to the Eastern Caribbean! It's a big ship, with lots of room, and oh, so many bars! Something to consider... :)

A rule I'd gladly break...

I lost an entire team of good, talented people when they offshored our work to Argentina.

This is just so terribly, terribly wrong...

The bastards are getting sneakier as of late. They're posting in existing threads all over the board now.

On the cruise, I kept having to "correct" myself when talking to the crew; the blank looks when I said "larboard" were pretty funny.

Whatever it takes to get the job done, love. :)

Per request of the event planners, this thread is now closed.

The 2008 cruise has been announced! Click here to go to the posting.

In oh, so many ways, love.

My profile should provide all the warn... er, info you might need.

Oh my. A good way to be 'had' don't you think? One of my favourites, to be sure.

You had me at "top-heavy", love. :)

Welcome aboard, lass!